


The Hidden Classification

by TheGriefPolice



Series: Classification the Series [2]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, marvel cinimatic universe
Genre: AU - Littles are known, AU - Stane was never caught, Age Play, Alpha!Pepper, Bruce Is a Good Bro, Caregiver!Phil, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, I suck at naming stuff, Little!Bucky - Freeform, Little!Tony, Littles Are Known, Neutral!Bruce, Neutral!Natasha, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other, Panic Attacks, Tony Needs a Hug, but also kind of a dick, but for a good reason, caregiver!Steve, caregiver/little relationship, hidden Classification, little!Clint, mentions of child abuse, obadia Stane can such my ass, people need to f-ing talk to each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-11-14 12:38:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11208246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGriefPolice/pseuds/TheGriefPolice
Summary: Tony could hide anything if he tried really hard. He'd been taught how to his whole life. But, when the team finds out Tony's biggest secret, and how it's being used against him, they spring into action to help their friend. And Tony finds out that being Little isn't so bad after all.





	1. Realization

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, bit of an AU where Tony didn't have a reactor shoved in his chest and, because he never made it, Stane never tired to steal it. So Stane is still at large many years after Afghanistan. Oh, and he's a controlling DICK!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Tony watches on screen and Steve walked around the living room, Bucky on his hip. The Little had just woken from a nap and was little more than a snugly octopus. It brought a small smiled to Tony's face as he thought about the two of them. Steve was a loyal Caretaker, sure to give Bucky everything he needed and attentive beyond what Tony believed possible. The man could basically read minds. It kind of blew Tony away.

Bucky, however, was a rambunctious little thing. He'd be all over the place, constantly running to and fro without a care in the world. He was always getting told to pick up his toys and not leave them all over the place. But it was always with a kind smile and never a command, Steve's tone getting him to do what was asked without being threatened with punishment.

Tony envied them. But he knew better than to think he deserved something like that.

He scowled at himself, dragging the screens to the side to close them. He shouldn't be looking at that. It was stupid and he had work to do. Stane was expecting an update to his new tech by morning. And Tony didn't want to think about what would happen if he was late. Even Iron Man was no match for that guy when he was mad.

Tony set into his work, letting the numbers and blue prints surround him and almost form a shield to the world. It was so easy to do now, let everything else matter more and shove that part of himself to the side. Because if he thought about that side for too long, the one that wanted someone to look at him the way Steve looked at Bucky, it would become too much. 

So he pushed it down, just like always. Just like he'd been trained. Breath in, breath out, center your body, and think about something else. Even biology was no match for Howard Stark, who wanted to hide a broken son.

It wasn't until the small hours of the morning that Tony came up for air. The project having been finished, there was really no reason for him to stay in the workshop. So he dragged himself to the elevator, hitting the button for the communal floor. He had his own floor, sure. But that didn't mean his kitchen had food or anything other than coffee.

The cab beeped and the doors opened, showing the team huddled in on the couch watching a movie. Or more, sleeping as the movie played on. 

Tony stepped out of the cab with a small smile on his face, then walked over to the fridge and yanked it open. A sticky note hung on the side of a tubawear container, claiming the food as Tony's. It was Steve's perfect cursive that put a painful smile on Tony's face. Steve had known Tony would come here looking for food, and had made sure to save him some of dinner so he wouldn't just grab a granola bar after deciding it was too late to cook as he normally did. 

The team didn't see him much outside of battles and the highly-mandatory meetings Tony would often ignore. He was always in his lab at the tower, and avoided interaction with the group whenever possible. Agent Coulson was always mad at Tony for missing the bonding exercises, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Tony was co-CEO of Stark Industries, and, therefore, often busy with many other things. Or, so the world thought.

Although Tony did own 51-percent of the company, and it was his name across the building, Tony didn't really have much control at all. Obi had said it was because of his age, at first. He'd claimed that Tony was just too young at seventeen to take the company. Even when he'd turned eighteen, Obi claimed he'd have to wait until he was twenty-one. After the day of his birthday had passed, Obi claimed that a Little could never own a company as large and influential as Stark Industries. 

At first, Tony didn't believe him. Howard had claimed him as the owner of SI even with the knowledge of his Classification. But Obi said that it just wasn't possible. It was better for Tony to stay focused on Research and Development and just "play the part" of CEO while Obi took care of the rest. 

"It's just not fit for a Little to run this. You know the studies, they are constantly telling us what is and isn't healthy. This would put too much undue stress on you, my boy." Obi said, squeezing Tony's shoulder painfully. "It'll still be your name, but I will do all the busy stuff. You just keep that smart head of yours were it belongs."

Tony didn't have much room to argue, so he didn't even bother. He was a Little, and if that fact came out, he didn't even want to think of the repercussions. Instead, he would let the world think he was Neutral as they had his whole life. 

Tony sat down at the table, putting out his phone to read the news as he ate. Dinner had been meatloaf and potatoes, and Steve had left him plenty. Tony had been so zoned out with reading that he didn't notice when Steve took a seat at the table, waiting on the brunet to notice his presence before he spoke. It took several minutes, but eventually, Tony did look up, nearly scared to death as he saw the figure at the table.

"Woah, hey, it's only me." Steve laughed, hands up in surrender. 

Tony glared at him for a moment, then went back to his food. It took him a moment to realize he should probably thank Steve for saving him food, but he wasn't really good with verbal accounts of appreciation. 

"It's good to see you out of the lab." Steve smiled as he stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Tony let out another groan, knowing the line was coming, but still annoyed by it. "You know, I do have a business to run. Keeps me busy."

Steve laughed, nodding as he filled a cup with water and went back to the table. "All good. But, still, we don't see you much anymore."

Tony would have lied to say that it was mostly because of Steve that he didn't come upstairs. The man just had this presence about him that made Tony's legs get wobbly and his stomach churn. Tony was testing a theory that said if he was never around Steve, he would never get that feeling. It was working--until now.

"I've just got a lot on my plate." Tony lied. His list was clear, which is why he was up here in the first place. 

"And yet you never eat anything." Steve joked, flashing that winning smile that made Tony's stomach do a happy little flip.

"Uh, yeah..." Tony looked away, an odd feeling flailing up. "Uh, thanks. You know, for, uh--"

"You're welcome." Steve smiled. "You're a good eater when you want to be." 

At Tony's questioning look, Steve pointed down at the empty container. Tony's face flashed red, and the odd feeling grew a little bit more.

"I-I should go," Tony stuttered, trying to stand as quickly as possible and dash into the kitchen. Somewhere along the way, there must have been a wet spot or something, because Tony was suddenly on his back, looking at the ceiling several feet above his head. Pain flared up from his head, sending spikes down his back like a firework. 

"Tony!" Steve was suddenly at his side, keeping a hand on his chest to keep him down for a second. "Hey hey hey, it's okay, you're okay. Just stay still for a second, okay. You're okay."

Tony knew he shouldn't let Steve be doing this--grown men don't need people to talk them down after having tripped--but he felt inclined to do what Steve said. So he laid still, hand clutching the back of his head.

"There you go, good boy, okay. Can you sit up for me, slowly." Steve asked, hand on Tony's back to help him up. When Tony was sitting up, Steve asked him to move his hands.

Tony really didn't think it was a good idea, but Steve was convincing. He let go of his head, instead wrapping his arms around himself in a type of hug. 

"Good boy. Okay, lets see what's wrong. I don't see any blood, so you're good there." Steve pushed gently on spots on his head, having Tony rate the pain. After a second, Steve decided that Tony had a bit of a bump, but nothing serious.

"We should have Bruce take a look at it, though." Steve said, leaning back on his hands.

"No!" Tony said, a little louder than he meant to. He cupped his hands over his mouth to quiet himself, as if it would take the noise back. "I mean, no. We shouldn't wake him up. He needs his sleep."

Steve looked suspicious, but played along. "Speaking of which, that's what you need to be doing. You've been down there for a week and I know you weren't sleeping properly."

Again, that odd feeling flared up, mixing with a twinge of guilt. "Yeah, I was, uh, just about to do that."

Steve nodded his approval, standing up and then offering a hand to help Tony. The second he was on his feet, Tony was off to the elevator and hitting the button for his floor. 

"JARVIS, I need a scan."

"Of what, sir." The AI responded as Tony got off the elevator.

"Me. Whatever happened down there, something was wrong." This feeling in his stomach wouldn't go away, and he couldn't ask Bruce. Littles were easy to spot due to certain... physical differences. Height, weight, structure, and hair growth, just to name a few. If Bruce was a half decent doctor with most of his brain cells, he'd be able to tell. It was a risk Tony wasn't ready to take.

Tony fell face-first onto his bed, curling up on his side as Jarvis did his thing. The feeling was getting stronger, making his stomach twist in ways he wasn't aware were possible. He felt like he was going to puke when JARVIS finally spoke up.

"Sir, your vitals are spiking. All of your symptoms show the possibility of underexposure."

Tony wasn't sure if he would be able to get a word out, but he seemed to successfully say something because JARVIS responded.

"You biological needs, sir."

Those were not the words Tony wanted to hear. But he could deal with this. It wasn't hard, he'd done it before. His body may have chosen that it was Little, but his mind thought otherwise. He just had to breath through the urges, as he always did. In and out, in and out. 

There was a part of him that was so done with hiding and hurting and quenching the desire. The part that wanted to see what it was like to be Little every now and then like he was supposed to be. But then Howard or Obi's voice would talk him out of it.

"A Stark would never be Little and let it show. No son of mine is going to be some second-class citizen!"

"Imagine the outcry, Tony. What would the world think if Stark Industries was run by a Little? They'd want you off the board, to sell your stock, and don't even get me started on the shareholders. No, it's best for you to just stay in your lab. That's a good boy."

Tony felt shivers run down his back, making his whole body convulse. The way Obi said good boy was nothing like the way Steve said it. Obi's made it feel like a back-handed complement. It was a, "thank you for doing what I told you, as you should," tone. But Tony was always compelled to follow, because he was getting at least some attention.

Steve's "good boy," though, felt so much more endearing. Like he was just trying to talk to Tony in a way that didn't feel hostile. And Steve was the whole reason Tony was curled up on the bed now, holding onto his sides tightly as he felt like he was falling apart. 

It hurt so much. This time was so much stronger, Tony didn't know what to do. His head was pounding with each beat of his heart rate that rapidly increased. He couldn't take it as tears poured from his eyes. Quiet tears soon turned into large sobs, loud and heart breaking. 

Tony wasn't a good son, he wasn't a good teammate, he wasn't a good person, and now he wasn't even good at doing the one thing he'd trained his whole life with. Howard's voice echoed through his head, screaming that he was worthless; nothing more than a waste of space.

"Tony?" A voice asked. When Tony didn't respond, it repeated, "Tony!"

Tony was forced to look up, watching as a shadow moved into the room, developing into a person. 

"JARVIS, what's wrong?" He asked, stepping closer to Tony and the small amount of light coming off a clock. Bruce's features stood out against the shadows in the white light, but left half of him as shadows. A worried look seemed to be sew onto his face as he listen to the AI's reply.

"Sir is having a mild panic attack, Doctor Banner." JARVIS spoke plainly. 

Bruce sprung into action, asking JARVIS to turn on music Tony would like, but not at his usual level. He sat next to Tony, running a hand up and down his back and instructing him to breath. It took longer than Bruce had been expecting, but he got the man calmed down soon enough.

After a long moment of silence, Tony looked up and asked in a broken voice, "Why'd you show up?"

Bruce gave a pained smiled. "JARVIS asked me to. He said you needed help and no one else was awake."

Tony was going to donate that damn AI to a community college, he swears. "I would have been fine."

Bruce shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Still, I'm glad I was able to help you."

Tony let out a loud sigh. He was exhausted and didn't have the energy to argue with any one. He let his eyes flutter shut and focused on his breathing for a minute more before Bruce called his name again.

"What?"

A second of silence and then, "How long?"

Tony cracked an eye open and sent Bruce a questioning look.

"How long have you been hiding your Classification?"

Tony felt all of the blood drain from his face, hands suddenly very cold. His voice left him for longer than could make his next statement true. 

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really, because you've never really told us what you were. The news channels, they all say that you're a Neutral. Thing is, I've treated many Neutrals, and they carry weight on their back. Not much, but enough to hide the bones underneath. Same could be said for Alphas and some Omega types. But you carry none."

Tony felt like he was going to puke all over again. He hadn't even known that was a thing! Build always played a part in Classifications, sure. But that usually had to do with height. Who the hell would know where they carry their weight or muscles? Of course, Tony also hadn't been around the world helping every sick person in sight. Bruce would have to know these things to tell what treatments you could give a person. Classifications sometime couldn't handle certain things and it was best to just not mess with it. Bruce would have been forced to be able to tell the difference on experience alone.

"Tony, I don't care what you are. I just want to know that you're getting what you need." The sincerity in Bruce's voice made Tony want to cry all over again. 

Bruce's voice was so soft as he asked, "Are you getting what you need?"

Tony shook his head, knowing there was no reason to lie. Tears streamed down his face as Bruce's face twisted in concern.

"Tony, are you a Little?"

And then, Tony did the one thing he thought he'd never be able to do. Not on this matter, anyway. 

He told the truth.

And he nodded his head.

Bruce let out a puff of air, as if trying to find where to go from here. "We need to tell the team."

"No!" Tony yelled, louder than he thought possible. 

"Yes! Tony, they need to know! What if something happened out there and they can't help you because they don't understand! Everyone believes you're a Neutral! That's not a good place to be when you're putting you life into someone else's hands!" Bruce's voice was loud, but not yelling. Like he needed Tony to listen even if he didn't want to, which was exactly what was going on.

But Tony played the part of dumb just as well, shoving his fingers into his ears and humming.

Bruce sighed and stood to leave, telling Tony to just make it to breakfast in the morning. Tony had no such plans and let Bruce walk out, desperately wanting to reach out and ask the man to stay.

Tony didn't sleep much that night, and happily ran to his lab before the sun came up. He knew the team would be having breakfast about the time that he opened up the cameras. He felt bad for butting in on the conversation, but he needed to see if Bruce was going to share his newfound information.

The whole meal was passing quickly, and no mention of Tony had been brought up. Not even Littles, due to Bucky and Clint being Big. Just as Tony was about to close the screen, Bruce spoke up.

"I think you all need to know something about Tony. And, since he won't show up and tell you himself, I have to be a jerk and do it for him. I only say this because it concerns us all, and we need to know." Bruce took a breath, looking around to make sure that the team was listening. "Tony is a Little, pretending to be a Neutral."

Tony burned red with anger. Did Bruce understand what he was doing? Tony could lose the company his father built if this information got out! He was going to kill him. Science bros be dammed.

Just as Tony was about to tell JARVIS to do something with Bruce, he heard Bucky laugh. Tony leaned toward the screen to see the shocked faces of everyone but Bucky and Clint. 

"Duh, he's little." Bucky laughed. "He doesn't hide it well."

At the questioning looks, Bucky went on. "I mean, he's not a big dude. He's small, even for a Little. And he's always got those big puppy eyes. I figured that Stane dude was his caregiver, since none of you were looking to take him in."

"You've seen Stane and Tony together?" Steve asked. 

"Yeah," Bucky said, a bit of question in his voice. "I figured he was Tony's Caregiver because he always seemed to be yelling at Tony for one thing or another."

Bruce and Steve shared a look. Tony couldn't take it anymore. He closed the screen and enacted the Black-Out protocol.

 

Steve felt his heart skip of beat. He'd heard about this Stane guy. Not much, but enough to know he was bad news. There were suspicions that Tony's trip to the Afghanistan caves had been his doing, but there was noting to prove it. 

"Bucky, do you know anything that they said?" Steve asked.

Bucky shrugged. "A project or something. Stane seemed angry that he was taking so long. He threatened to tell everyone 'what he really was' and take SI. I didn't really understand it, but I thought it was weird."

"Do you remember exactly what the project was?" Natasha asked seriously. 

Bucky thought for a second. "I think he called it a reactor or something."

"An Arch Reactor?" Asked Natasha. 

"Yeah, that was it. Why'd you wanna know?"

Natasha looked to Steve. "Stane has a SHEILD file looking into illegal weapon sales. He could be using Tony to make designs and selling them to the highest bidder. If Tony's being threatened, he may not even know what he's doing."

"What do you mean?" Asked Bruce.

"When was the last time any of you heard anything about how SI is doing from Tony? He may not even control it anymore. Tony's been hiding his Classification, too. What if Stane is telling Tony that he'll make sure everyone knows what Tony really is unless he does what he's told. He wouldn't know where the weapons are going or why Stane suddenly wants a reactor."

"The same power source Tony uses to fly the suit." Steve said, realizing what was really going on. "If that gets into the wrong hands..."

"If Tony doesn't do what he's told, I fear that his Classification being out in the open will become the least of our problems. Stane controls Tony's lab because it's part of SI." Clint jumped in, now worried over his friend. "The only thing he doesn't control is--"

"JARVIS." They all yelled together.

"How can I help?" The AI answered. "I am sorry I was unable to tell you sooner. But I was programmed to not relay any of the information."

"JARVIS, where is Tony now?" Steve asked, standing up.

"Sir is in the lab, under a Black-Out."

"Remove it. We need to put Tony somewhere safe. If Stane finds out we're coming after him, he'll go after Tony first."

JARVIS happily closed out the protocol, letting Steve hand out orders. 

"Bucky and Natasha, you all are Stane's office. Clint, take to the vents. I need to know where Stane is. Bruce and I will guard Tony in the event anything happens. Got it?"

Heads nodded around the table, and then they were all standing, ready to do what needed to be done.

 

Tony was pissed, yelling at the ceiling for JARVIS to reactivate Black-Out. Just as he was about to do a manual override, Steve and Bruce busted into the room. 

"What're you doing!" Tony yelled as they each took an arm and dragged him into the elevator. "Let me go!"

Neither man answered him as the went to the highest floor--Tony's--and told JARVIS to lock down all ways into the penthouse. Tony was fighting the whole time as they sat him down on his couch. He jumped to run away, but Steve was too fast, gently lifting him and putting him right back on the couch.

"Tony, calm down." Steve's voice was soft as he spoke, making Tony want to listen.

"What all do you know about Obadiah Stane?" Steve asked.

"He's my godfather," Tony said, "my dad's old business partner. He's just always been there."

"What do you know about him and SI?" Steve specified.

Tony shrugged. "Obi doesn't let me see any of the SI files anymore. He says they're--"

Tony stopped, but Steve pushed him to finished. "What does he say, bud?"

Tony's eyes fell on the floor as he said, "Not for Littles." The bitterness rolled off a bit as he spoke. "He says that a lot."

"So you have no idea what he was doing?" Steve asked to make sure.

The look on Tony's face gave him all the answer he needed. Steve tapped on his ear, turning on his comm. "Buck, 'Tasha, how's it going?"

 

Steve's voice came through the comms loud and clear. Buck tapped his ear to respond, saying, "So far, so good. There might be trouble with Stane's PA, though."

It was something none of them had stopped to think about. Pepper was the wonderful PA that kept SI running when Stane didn't feel like doing it. The woman looked kind and sweet, but she was a force Bucky would rather avoid.

She sat at her desk, looking up every few minutes as people walked by. Natasha stood close to Bucky as they watched, taking in her every move. After a minute more, Natasha stood and just waltzed up to the PA's desk.

"We need to get into Stane's office." She said, loud enough to get Pepper's attention.

Bucky could not believe what she was doing. Natasha was risking the whole operation.

Pepper looked up at the woman dressed in all black that clung tight to her body. For a second, she seemed lost, and then her eyes narrowed. "You figured it out."

Natasha nodded, and Bucky was more lost than ever. 

"Which side are you on?" Pepper asked with a fiery look in her eyes.

"The only one that should be sided with." For a moment, Bucky was sure that Natasha was going to lose any chance they had at getting through, and then Pepper stood up, taking a stack of papers with her.

"I'm afraid I have an awful lot of folders to get to people around the building and cannot help you." And then she walked off.

Natasha smiled gratefully, watching as the woman walked away.

"What just happened?" Bucky asked, eyes wild as he looked to Natasha.

"A deal." Was all the woman said before turning around and busting through the large doors. In no time at all, she found the files she was looking for and they were off.


	2. Chapter 2

"Files on their way to shield." Natasha said through the comms.

Steve sent a thank you and told them to return to Tony's room. When orders were handed out, Steve turned back to Tony.

It was hard to believe he ever thought the man to be something other than Little. The way he moved and spoke and even the way he was sitting in the couch right now--up against the arm and pushed all the way against the back, with his arms hugging his legs and knees to his chest--was so much like Bucky and Clint. The only difference was that he'd never seen Tony's little side.

"Stane's on the way to his office," Clint came through, voice echoing off the air duct around him. "SHEILD's already on the first level and working their way up."

"So why not tell anyone?" Bruce asked. The question had been bothering him this whole time. "Why do what he says? So what if everyone found out?"

"I'd lose the company!" Tony yelled. "This is all I have. I don't have friends, I don't have a family. I have this company and that's it! I couldn't lose it, I just couldn't..."

"Tony..." Steve said, wanting to confront him more than ever. "How would you lose the company?"

"Littles can't own anything. Everything of theirs is given to a Caregiver. I couldn't let everyone find out, because, then, Obi really would have everything. He'd make a Caregiver claim and no one else would want me, so they'd let him. And then I'd have nothing."

There were so many things wrong with that sentence, Steve wasn't sure where to start. It seemed the the biggest fear was the company, so he took a leap and went after that.

"Tony, no one will take the company just because you're Little."

"Yes they will!" Tony yelled. "We don't have any rights!"

"Tony, Littles have more rights and protection than any other Classification." Bruce said. "I haven't been stateside for years and even I know that. Littles have laws set in place to keep things like that from happening. Contracts are an expectation now, not something you may or may not have."

"Contracts?" Tony asked. "The hell is that?"

"You don't know what a contract is?" Steve asked, then realized his mistake. "You've never had a Caregiver, have you?"

All of the anger fell out of Tony as he realized the answer to that question would not be what it should. Slowly, he shook his head.

"A contract is a legal agreement between people in a relation ship like ours." Bucky said as he walked in. "It keeps people from crossing a line like the one you're talking about. If you don't want your Caregiver involved in SI, they'd have to agree to keep their hands off. And if they don't, then you don't sign and they never get to make you do anything."

"But that's not what Obi said."

"Oh, yes, because Stane has proved himself to be so wonderfully truthful." Natasha said as she flopped down on the couch. "Tony, nothing he told you as true. Littles have protections set at all levels. They're not bad or weak, they're people. They just have certain needs."

"And, in this day in age, completely accepted. It's been a long time since anyone thought the way Stane tells you they do." Steve said. "There's no reason to hide anymore."

Tony couldn't deal with this anymore. He stood up, and walked to his room, closing the door behind him. That feeling of sinking came way faster than he'd been expecting. He tried to breath trough it like he'd been taught, but then wondered why it was worth bothering. His life was falling apart all over again. 

Tears fell form his eyes as he fell faster and faster, just like that day when they were in New York and he'd fallen from space. And it hurt just as much. Soon, he fell into an exhausted sleep, free of dreams and people.

He woke up later to a hand running down his back and Steve's voice calling his name. 

"Morning, buddy." Steve smiled when Tony cracked his eyes open. 

He was disoriented to say the least. His head was still kind of foggy and trying to move took too much effort. Talking was nearly the same. What the hell even was this? He felt like he'd been drugged, but with something that just made him a little bit happy. 

"You doing okay?" Steve asked, noticing that Tony wasn't his normal chatty self.

Tony didn't answer for a moment, then decided to just shrug his shoulders. He wasn't hurt, but he's not sure how okay he truly was. 

Steve looked confused, then seemed to have an epiphany a second later and gave Tony a smiled. "Bit of a new feeling, isn't it?"

Tony nodded. This was defiantly something he'd never experienced before, not even when he was several shots deep at a good party.

"Little bit foggy, little bit confused, but kind of happy?"

Again, Tony nodded. Why did talking seem so difficult?

Steve gave him a soft smile looking up as the team normally did when talking to JARVIS, but then seeming to go against it. "It's okay, nothing to fear. You're just sitting between headspaces. It happens to everyone."

Tony had the feeling that Steve left out a part of that sentence, but didn't care enough to ask. Instead, he took in a deep breath and tested the functionality of his mouth. "Stane?" He finally rasped out.

 

"Escorted out of the building about an hour after you fell asleep. SHEILD has him detained with the rest of the crazies on some secret base." Steve didn't stop rubbing Tony's back as he spoke. He may not be Tony's Caregiver, but he was still concerned about the man. How long had it been since Tony let himself go down?

Tony looked up with tired eyes, the kind that no amount of sleep could help. But Steve didn't exactly have the ability to help. Had it been Bucky sitting on the bed, Steve would have strongly encouraged that he drop. But this wasn't Bucky, and Tony wasn't Steve's Little. 

"Why don't you see if you can get some more sleep, hum." Steve asked softly.

Tony whined, the kind that didn't really leave the back of his throat. He was overly tired even after sleeping as much as he did, and fighting headspace wasn't helping. But, his eyes fluttered shut and didn't seem to want to open any time soon.

After Tony's breathing became steady, Steve stood up and walked back out to the living room.

"He awake?" Clint asked over the back of the couch.

Steve shook his head. "Not anymore."

Clint looked at Steve with a question in his eyes, then shrugged it off and turned around.

Bruce, however, spoke up. "How is it even possible?"

Steve took a seat on one of the recliners and asked, "what do you mean?"

"How can a adult just ignore biological needs? And for his whole life! Not only is it unhealthy, it seems impossible." Bruce said, gaining the attention of the whole room.

"He's right," Natasha chimed in. "I've seen what happens to Bucky and Clint when they go too long. They might as well have caught the flu."

"It's not like that, really." Bucky said. The looks around the room asking him if he was stupid made him go on. "No, I mean, for us--or me at least--its like a withdraw thing. I feel sick because I'm not getting what I'm so used to now. I have the experience to miss. For Tony..."

"He's never had the experience." Steve said, understanding. "But it still wouldn't be healthy, right?"

"Have you seen Tony?" Clint asked with one eyebrow higher than the other. "He looks like a medium-force wind would blow him away if he wasn't tied to something. Not to mention all of his other unhealthy addictions. Caffeine, alcohol, that stint he had with narcotics."

"He was trying to fight off one addiction with another?" Bruce asked.

"Not trying when he can hide it so damn well." Clint puffed, looking around the room. "I think we all know what we need to do."

"Tony's not going to like this." Bucky said softly.

"I bet he'll like it a lot more that walking around half-drunk all the time." A voice said as the elevator dinged and a woman stepped in, red hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. 

"Pepper?" Clint asked.

"A little slow for a bunch of super spies." Pepper smirked. "But, I am glad you got that sad excuse for a man out of Tony's office."

"How'd you get up here?" Steve asked, swiveling around on the couch to face the woman.

"Virgins Potts, and I'm here to keep a promise." Pepper held out her hand for Steve to shake.

"What promise?" Bucky asked as Steve took the hand a lowered his head in respect.

Natasha smirked. "She wants to put Tony back in charge of everything. And I'll take a guess saying that folder holds the papers to close out all of the side businesses Stane started."

Pepper nodded with a pleased smile.

"How'd you know that?" Clint asked, taken back by the weird connection between the two women.

"We had a conversation. Bucky was there." Natasha said.

Bucky was taken aback. "You all stared at each other for ten seconds and then Pepper left! What conversation are you referring to!"

Bruce laughed as Pepper handed over the file, ignoring Bucky's bewilderment. "Tell Mister Stark to look over and sign these when he's Big once more. I've already taken the liberty of blocking all calls form Stane's associates."

Natasha nodded a thank you, taking the father thick folder and putting it on the kitchen island.

Pepper nodded to the team as way of goodbye, and walked back to the elevator.

"What a woman," Clint said, looking at the rest of the team with wide eyes.

"Hands off, bud. She's never go after the likes of you." Bucky snarled with humor stinging along his voice.

"Not to mention she's an Alpha. Not to say that Alpha's and Littles couldn't be in a relationship, but it's something that could become very difficult very quickly." Natasha said, taking her seat back in the living room. 

Clint humphed and put his eyes back on the TV as an old black and white show played on.

 

Tony woke up in the same place he'd fallen asleep--both mentally and physically. The bed was soft, with smooth sheets and a weighted blanket covering him. His head still felt slow, and he had the feeling that his "exercises" weren't going to work at this point. 

But he couldn't fall into that headspace thing! He didn't care if he was Little by Classification. He was a Neutral by practice, and that's what mattered! Right?

Tony tried to take a few deep breaths, but it wasn't working. His head was only fogging up more and more, thoughts becoming much slower than he believed possible. 

His head felt... clear? He could think, but it wasn't like his normal chaos, with ten thousand thing running around at any one time. No projects or ideas or anything. Just him and how he felt. Tony never thought about how he felt unless it was kind of tired with a caffeine need.

Speaking of coffee, Tony really wanted some. He wondered for a second how he could do that, and then remembered there was a coffee pot in the kitchen! He could make some! Duh!

Getting up was a little more difficult than planned, Tony having to throw around his weight to even roll over. When he was finally on his stomach, he pushed up with his arms and half-crawled, half-scooted to the side of the bed. Throwing one leg over the side, he let the other follow and pushed up.

Tony was proud, he'd made it off the bed and was standing all on his own! Well, he stood on his own. For all of about three seconds before the floor and his face became really good friends.

Tony let out a small screech as the floor met his face, instantly rolling over onto his back and rubbing at his face. Man, that had hurt! Tears were threatening to fall as the pain beached out more, running across his whole face and some of his neck. 

Now it really hurt and Tony was crying. Soft little sniffles escaped his mouth before he realized what was happening. Why did stuff hurt so much!

 

Steve turned around as the sound of something hit the floor. He looked over to Bruce who was sending him the same questioning look. They waited a moment until they heard soft sniffles, then stood to investigate.

Steve let Bruce open the door, but was the first one in the room. Tony laid on his back, rubbing at his very red face. Bruce and Steve shared a knowing look, then Steve walked over to the burnet, crouching down to get a better look at the possible wound.

"Hey, Tony, are you okay?" Steve asked.

Tony seemed to start, surprised by the presence of the other men. After a pained look, Tony reached his arms up and let out a sob.

 

Tony was mortified, having no idea why he was crying over something so trivial, or why he had this sudden need for someone--anyone--to make it go away. But he was even more surprised when Steve lifted him off the floor before Tony could pull back on the request. 

And then he was being carried around with his legs wrapped around Steve's lower torso with his head resting on the man's shoulder. Steve bounced gently, holding Tony's head in place with one of his large hands. And Tony... liked it. It was calming. And it felt safe. 

He'd seen Steve and Phil do this when their Littles fell down or hurt themselves. He didn't really understand it then, but now he did. Tony was sure he could stay like this forever.

"It's okay, bud." Steve whispered gently. "It's okay, we're okay. Just a little fall, but it's okay. Just a little ouchie."

Tony nodded, not even really sure why he'd been crying anymore. The adults were here. They'd make it better.

Steve said something to Bruce that Tony didn't catch, too absorbed with Steve's comfort. And then they were moving, back into the living room. 

Tony wasn't sure he was ready to face anyone, but Steve let him hide his face in the blond's shoulder and gently patted his back in a calming manor.

Tony could hear talking, but he was too tired to listen. He seemed to be tired a lot lately. Maybe it was because he wasn't sleeping very well lately. Yeah, that was probably it. The team was always on him about taking care of himself. Stane didn't like when he wasn't in his lab, though. And Stane scared him a lot more than the empty threats the team liked to dish out.

Steve was standing up, pulling Tony off his chest. Tony whined to show he wanted a warm Steve back, but was too tired to really fight anything. He was being placed on the floor and hands were pulling down his pants. For a moment, he was scared. But when he opened his eyes, Steve's soft blue ones were right there staring back, an ever-lasting smile on his face. Tony let his eyes flutter shut again, this time falling completely asleep.

 

Steve had picked up the crying Stark out of habit more than anything. Hands up meant he wanted a hug, and it seemed to be a universal thing for all Littles. So, without really thinking it through, he lifted Tony onto his chest.

A flash of fear went through his body when he realized that Tony was not his Little and Steve should not be treating him as such. But Tony curled into him so naturally, and everything had been--mostly--out of instinct. The bobbing and patting were just things he did.

But what if Tony didn't like it? He could be really mad and just in too much pain to show it.

But Tony seemed to be calming down, going limp against Steve's chest. It was then that he realized what was really going on: Tony was adjusting. Never having gone into space, this must be his body taking over without his true consent. Steve felt bad, but also kind of happy. Tony shouldn't have to go through this, but it was a good thing that he'd realize being Little wasn't bad at all. It was actually kind of fun for everyone involved.

But then something occurred to Steve very quickly: they had no idea where Tony sat age-wise in headspace. He looked up to Bruce to ask if he had any idea.

"You're the Caregiver, not me." Bruce laughed, but followed with. "I'm thinking younger than Buck, though. Maybe around Peter's age, possibly younger?"

"You really think he's that little?" Steve asked, making sure to keep the steady rhythm of his bounces going.

"I can't be sure, but that's about where I'd put him. At least a little younger than Bucky." Bruce said with a thoughtful look.

Steve sighed, thinking for a second. "Well, if he's even slightly younger than Buck, we should get him in something so he won't have an accident. I get the feeling he won't really be awake for a while."

Bruce nodded. "I'll go get the supplies. Meet in the living room?"

Steve nodded and followed Bruce out of Tony's room. Everyone was still situated on the many seats, Clint and Bucky asleep with Natasha between acting as their pillow. Phil would be by later to check on everything, but, for now, Bruce and Steve were the only ones up.

Steve sat down on the couch, patting Tony's back gently. He couldn't help the feeling of fulfillment as he looked at a sleeping Tony's face, soft and mushed against Steve's shoulder.

Bruce came back a few moment later, setting everything out so all Steve had to do was lay Tony down. He got a small squeak from the boy at the movement, but Tony's eyes stayed closed. When Bruce reached to pull down Tony's pants, the Little let out a soft cry, trying to wiggle away.

Steve and Bruce shared a worried look, but the blond looked back down just in time to see Tony's eyes flutter open. The honey-brown eyes looked up in worry, but Steve quickly smiled to show that everything was okay. Tony stopped wiggling, taking in Steve's eyes for a second before closing his once more.

And just like that, Tony was out. Bruce and Steve finished putting him in a diaper, both simi-happy that Tony was not awake for the experience.

Bruce, however, was royally pissed at himself for never noticing some of the very obvious signs of Littles on Tony. For one, he had very little body hair. He was small, too, and thinner than any person should ever be. 

"I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner." He muttered, tapping the diaper shut and sliding Tony's pants back up his legs.

"You can't blame yourself. None of us noticed." Steve said, sorrowful as he spoke.

"Stane's PA noticed before we did!" Bruce whispered harshly, tying to show his frustration but without waking Tony.

"Yes, but she's known Tony longer than we have." Steve said, lifting Tony off the floor and back into his arms. "It doesn't matter anymore--not really. Let's just be thankful we did notice. And in time to help."

Bruce nodded, submitting to the reply.


	3. Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update, but it's a long one for you! No warnings for this chapter, but the next one might have one depending on where it goes~

It was weird to wake up without JARVIS telling him about a project that Stane had sent down, or to something being thrown at him. He lulled in the place between sleep and awake for a while, unsure of which was to go. He was comfortable and warm, but he was kind of hungry, too. Maybe if someone was cooking, it'd be worth waking up.

Tony opened his eyes, having to blink a few times for the world to settle into focus. He was in his room, but he wasn't alone. Across from him sat eyes as blue as the sky, with a soft smile as he ran a hand through Tony's hair.

Man, that felt nice. Tony closed his eyes and let it go on for a second before he realized the obvious problem: there was a grown man in his bed and he didn't remember anything from last night.

Tony eyes shot open, shocked by how his body naturally relaxed once more at the sight of Steve. Oh man, this was not good.

"It's okay, Tony, take a breath." Steve said, sitting up on the bed and running a hand down the Little's back.

Tony shook his head, trying to clear away some of the fogginess, but it only made it worse. 

"Tony, it's okay. You're safe." Steve's voice was so airy and sweet that Tony didn't have any chance against it. "There you go, just calm down. Fighting it will help no one."

Tony let out a huff of air, knowing exactly what Steve was talking about. Littles weren't supposed to fight headspace, but Tony had a hard time doing anything else. It just came so naturally. 

Maybe naturally wasn't the right word...

"It's okay, bud, it's okay." Steve stood, lifting Tony into his arms and bobbing lightly. "It's going to be weird to let go, but you need to."

Tony shook his head, clinging tightly to Steve's shirt. Tears were falling and Tony hated that too. Stark's don't cry.

He'd been so peaceful just two seconds ago, how could he feel so torn! Tony hated all of this, he hated this side, he hated his dad for making him hate it, and he hated Stane for using it against him! 

"It's okay, Tony, just cry it out." Steve cooed. "You've been having a hard time lately, huh? That's okay, we've got you. I've got you, sweet boy."

Tony tightened his grip on Steve, trying not to get snot all over the man. But he didn't seem to care and tony was just so... so... tired. And afraid. Very, very afraid.

He'd heard what headspace was like. He may have a lot of control or none. He'd be completely vulnerable to everything. Tony didn't know if that would be a good thing or not, but it felt like it might've very, very bad. 

"Just let go, Tony." Steve's voice was softer than ever before, making Tony's want to please the man even stronger.

But he couldn't. He'd just disappoint Steve. And even the thought made his stomach twist.

A word escaped his moth before Tony had a chance to think over the repercussions. "Scared."

Steve squeezed him a little tighter, whispering, "don't worry, baby. I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

And Tony wanted to believe. Oh, how he wanted to believe that with all his heart. Maybe, if he just pretended to believe, he could fool himself. He didn't like this--hiding, lying, running. He just wanted to be part of something. He wanted... he wanted Steve... 

His head was cloudy, thoughts not really coming like the had before. They were even slower, a little more organized. It felt... good? 

 

Steve was going to kick himself in the head. How could he do this? How could he play this part for Tony when Tony was not his Little. He needed to stop; Tony may not want him as his Caregiver. He may have someone else that would be a better fit. 

He needed to stop pretending something that may never be real. He would only hurt himself if he didn't.

But Tony felt like his. He felt like a missing piece that fit perfectly into his life. It made Steve feel whole to know that Tony was in his arms and Bucky was just on the other side of the door--both of them by his side where they belonged.

Steve took a shaking breath, holding tight to Tony as he dropped. Steve could feel it just in the way he moved--slower and with less purpose, body going limp against his chest. He'd just help Tony while he could, and then Tony could find a Caregiver.

Steve walked out of the room, patting Tony's back as he smiled at the team.

"How's he doing?" Bruce asked, giving the Little a once over as he stood up.

"He woke up on the line, but I think he's fully dropped now." Steve said as he sat down at the dinning room table, Tony in his lap.

Bruce nodded, taking the liberty of forcing one of Tony's eyes open. "Fully dilated pulps, relatively no tension in his muscles--" Bruce grinned, "--big ol' smile on his face. I'd say he likes you, Stevie."

Steve's couldn't help the smile that formed and the flitter of happiness that went through his stomach.

"He's going through the motions of a transition right now, but he should be okay in, say, half an hour? Give a chance for his brain to proses." Bruce rustled Tony's hair, gaining a small hum from the Little."

Steve nodded his understanding, determined not to put Tony down during that time. 

"In the meantime," Phil said as he stood, "I'll make breakfast."

 

Tony was way too comfortable to care about behind held like a child. Steve was just so amazingly soft and warm. The smell of cooking food made him lift his head off the man's shoulders, looking around to see what was going on.

Phil stood over the stove, a plate pinned with paper towels next to the pan as he fried bacon, a waiting container of eggs close to the wall. Natasha was curled on the couch, watching the Sunday Morning news, seeming unamused by the change of hosts. Buck and Clint were playing with a box of toys that much have been brought up at some point, Bruce entertaining them with a long monologue about some guy's past and how he became a villain.

Tony liked his team like this, all together in a very domestic view. They were just normal people, after all. 

"Hey bud," Tony heard, making him turn his head. Steve was smiling at him with that hundred-mega-watt grin.

"Good to see you awake." He went on, adding a small bounce to playfully jog the Little.

Tony smiled back, unable to hold back his joyous feelings. Steve was so cool!

"Daddydaddydaddydaddyyyyyy," Bucky yelled as he jumped up and ran across the room. "Is baby Tony awake? Is he? Is he?"

"Yes, Bucky, yes. No need to yell, though." Steve chuckled, rustling the Little's hair.

Bucky was practically jumping up and down as he looked to Tony, waving as he said, "Hi! I'm Bucky!"

Tony's face tucked back against Steve's shoulder. Bucky was a little too hyper and made him nervous.

"Hey, Bucky, why don't you go play with uncle Bruce for a bit longer. I'm not sure that Tony's ready for a meet-and-greet yet." Steve suggested. Tony was mildly grateful for the suggestion. 

As much as he wanted to play with Bucky, he still wasn't quite sure how. Cuddling, though, that he could do.

Bucky nodded and ran back to his spot.

Tony peeked out of his spot and up at Steve, the man's blue eyes filling Tony with happiness.

"Hey, it's okay. They're just excited to meet you, is all." Steve smiled, rubbing a hand down Tony's back.

Tony narrowed his eyes, unsure if he felt the same way. He guessed they couldn't be too bad if Steve liked them. Tony really liked Steve. Something about the man just made Tony very happy to sit with him for the rest of the day.

Steve, however, seemed to have other plans as he stood up with Tony, only to place Tony down in a weird chair. Tony recognized it from when Peter would come over with Wade. No way was Tony sitting in a high chair when Bucky and Clint got to sit in regular chairs!

Tony let out a whine as protest, wiggling around as Steve buckled him in. Tony didn't want to sit in the stupid chair, he wanted to sit with Steve!

"No no, sweetheart. You need to sit in a special chair so you're safe." Steve shushed the boy, running a hand through Tony's hair.

Tony like that, and was upset with his moment of joy was cut of by the placement of a tray on the chair. Tony frowned at Steve, who gave a sympathetic smile before walking over to the table.

Tony was NOT okay with that. Steve could put him in this chair and tell him every story ever told, but he was not allowed to leave! Tony whined, kicking his feet as he craned his neck to see where Steve was going. Sadly, the back of the chair cut off any view he may have and Tony let out a frustrated cry.

Steve came back into view a moment later with several plastic and ceramic plates, setting them across the table. And then everyone was seated, digging in as food was dished out. Tony watched, slightly shocked as everything just happened around him. And then he was given a scoop of eggs and several slices of bacon on his tray and Tony glared at Steve.

He wanted a plate, too! He smacked his hand down on the tray, making the eggs fling out from under his hand. Hey, that was kind of fun. Tony did it again, and then again when the eggs started falling off his tray.

"Nuh-uh, baby. You need to eat your food." Steve said, grabbing Tony's hand before he could go in for another snack.

Tony whined again, frustrated that nothing ever went his way.

Steve took the chance to spoon some eggs into Tony's mouth, making the boy stop what he was doing. Tony was fully set on spitting them out, but the eggs were actually really good. He chewed and swallowed, then grabbed a handful off his tray and pushed them into his mouth.

 

Steve had to hold back a small laugh at Tony's antics. He was just frustrated with things because he wasn't used to it. Luckily, Steve was very used to fussy Littles and knew how to handle the situation. The first step of ignoring didn't seem to work, so he went in for the second: distraction.

Tony responded rather well to that, it seemed. The Little side of him didn't seem to hold grudges anywhere near what the Big side did.

When Tony had eaten most all of the food off his tray, Steve started cleaning off the table. Clint and Bucky were determined to start a food fight, but every thing they had was immediately shut down by Steve or Natasha. However, food had still found its way into some interesting places.

The two older Littles took off for play time and Steve just let out a sigh, knowing Bucky wouldn't have been much help with cleaning anyway. It was only a few minutes of Tony being in the chair after everyone had left before the Little was whining in the back of his throat. 

International "let me out" noises.

Steve wasn't sure if he wanted Tony out on his own, but now was as good a time as any to see how he'd react. So, Steve lifted him from his chair and walked him over to the living room.

Tony giggled as Steve sat him down, tickling his sides for a moment. Steve stood back up watching as Tony tracked the other two's movement on the play mat.

The second Bucky saw Tony was on the floor, the older Little was all over him.

"Tony! Hi! I was wondering when daddy would bring you over! You wanna play?" Bucky offered a toy car.

Tony smiled and reach for the car, then held it up for Steve to see.

Steve grinned down as Tony shook the car. "Yeah, you've got a car don't you! Isn't that nice of Bucky to share!"

Bucky beamed a smile. "Yeah daddy! I'm gonna be a good big brother! The best ever!"

Steve's heart sank. "Uh, buddy--"

"I promise, daddy!" Bucky smiled, poking at Tony's tummy like he's seen Steve so many times with Peter. "See! I'll help lots! Baby Tony's gonna always have someone to love him with me an' you 'round!"

Steve felt his heart fall even more, unable to help the wince on his face. "Bud, he's... he's not ours."

Bucky's face fell. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're just looking after Tony right now. When he's Big again, he may choose to find someone else." Steve said, taking a hold of Bucky's hands and kneeling down.

Phil beckoned Clint and they walked to the kitchen silently to give the two a small amount of space. 

"But-but I want a little brother!" Bucky cried. "Tony needs a big brother!"

Tony looked up at Bucky as he started crying, fat tears falling down his face. Bucky turned around at he heard a sniffle, the moved to wrap his arms around Tony tightly.

"He's gotta be my little brother!"

Steve ran a had through his hair. How did he get himself into this. He wasn't going to leave Tony out to dry ever, but he couldn't speak for Tony on matters of a Caregiver. It wasn't his place and the last thing he wanted was to over step a boundary. 

Although, by the look of Tony's diaper, he might have to do so.


	4. Maybe, just maybe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, ANGST
> 
> WARNING: Panic attacks explained as well as some good ol' fashion love~
> 
> So yeah, enjoy the next (why the fuck is it so LONG) chapter!

Five days.

From the time Tony dropped until the day he started coming back up. 

Five. Goddamn. Days.

Tony had darted for the elevator the second he felt Big, running into the lab and shutting everything down. No one in. No one out.

Tony was pacing back and forth, ignoring at his bots ran around him happily. Tony didn't know what to do or say, he wasn't even sure how to feel. He could remember every part of being Little, all of the tears and "ouchies" and diapers. When he was Little, not one damn thing about it had bothered him.

He happily rolled around in the affection that the whole team was freely handing out. Snuggling closer to every person who carried him, crying when he was tired and just wanted to be held. He remembered the word "touch-starved" being used a few times, but hadn't cared about what it meant until now.

The worst part of it all was how he felt right now.

Tony has never felt this refreshed and happy a day in his life. Sleeping for a million years and only doing the things he enjoyed the most wouldn't put him anywhere near this natural high he was riding. And that was what worries him the most.

No, scratch that.

This feeling was nothing compared to how Steve had been the whole time. And Bucky. They had both been so attentive to his every need and all over him. Bucky had been Big for two or three of the days, but that hadn't stoped him from caring and watching for Tony. 

Tony punched a wall, ignoring the pain that flared up his arm from the collision. He needed to stop. He needed this to just go away. He'd been trained how to fight it. It wasn't ever all that hard before. He needed to keep his company, he needed to keep his image, he needed... he needed...

Tony wasn't sure anymore. What did he need? They'd said he wouldn't lose his company, right? But, what if they were lying to make him feel better? Or what if Stane was still around and telling them what to say.

"JARVIS, scan the room!" Tony yelled, eyes seeking every human-shaped shadow. He didn't want Stane down here, and he didn't want to ever see him again.

"The room is empty save for you, sir." The AI replied.

Tony let that settle his heart rate a bit. Stane had zero control over JARVIS, so he couldn't fool the AI.

"Sir, Captain Rogers is outside asking for entry." 

Tony looked around the lab and toward the elevator doors that had been locked down.

Steve. Tony was most frustrated over him. He'd always been civil towards Tony, and they were pretty okay friends, but this... this was something else.

Every fiber of his being was yelling at him to open the door and race towards Steve with open arms. But Tony couldn't. Steve didn't want Tony like that, he was just being nice and making sure Tony was okay. 

No one wanted Tony as their Little. He was broken and clingy and needy. All he'd done the past week was hang on people. No one would want to be around that all the time. Hell, even Tony hated his Little-self. There was no way he'd be able to put up with that.

"Sir, Captain Rogers is insisting I let him in." JARVIS said, pulling Tony out of his thoughts for a moment. "And I must recommend you do so."

"JARVIS, just keep the door shut!" Tony yelled, trying to hide the way his whole body was shaking by hugging his arms to his body.

His mind was racing to fast to proses whatever JARVIS said next, his legs shaking with every small breath he took in. His fingers and feet were starting to go numb, everything tingling like pins and needles. When did breathing get so hard?

JARVIS was talking again, and Tony tried to listen, but the sound of his heart beat and jagged breaths were too loud. He tucked his head between his knees and squeezed his body together. He was cold and everything hurt and he didn't understand why.

 

"Captain, I believe Sir is in need of your assistance." JARVIS spoke, his accented voice engraved with concern.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, now even more frantic to open the door between him and the engineer.

"Sir's condition seems to have decreased since he arrived an hour ago. His heart rate his high and he seems to be unable to breath."

"Then let me in!" Steve yelled, beating on the door. 

"I cannot without an override code or Sir's permission." The AI replied sorrowfully. 

Steve punched one last time before he let his head fall against the door. Three inches of steel stood between him and Tony. He couldn't punch his way through, and there wasn't any way around.

Steve head shoot up.

Or maybe there was.

"JARVIS, give me a line to Clint!"

It took a second for the line to connect, Clint's questioning tone coming through the overhead speakers that JARVIS normally used.

"Clint, I need you to take the vents into Tony's lab and open the door!" Steve yelled.

There was a moment of silence and then, "Is he okay?"

"JARVIS said there's something wrong and he can't open the door without an override code!" Steve said, still banging on the door to no avail. "It needs to be opened from the inside."

The sound of shuffling fabric and then a, "I'll be as fast as I can."

It was agonizing to wait as Clint crawled through the vents. It had been something they were trying to get him to stop doing, but now Steve was grateful for the skill. He took a few calming breaths, time seeming to slow down the longer he waited until--finally--the door opened.

Clint stood inside, pulling on the door for Steve to get through. The room was barely lit, but Steve choose to follow his ears and the hard sobbing that near broke his heart.

"Tony, it's just me, okay." Steve said as he felt his way around. "We were worried about you after you left this morning. I want to make sure you're okay."

There was no response, but Steve still followed the unmistakable sound of tears. Finally, it lead him to a desk, Tony's shaking form underneath the tabletop.

It took two seconds for Steve to recognize the signs of a panic attack before he started talking once more.

"Hey Tony, hey, it's okay. It's okay. Can you breath with me? I'll be right here with you." Steve reached a hand out, imediatly regretting it as he realized that may not help at all. Bucky's attacks normally meant he didn't want to be touched for several hours.

Steve's heart filled a little bit when Tony grabbed onto his hand for dear life, white knuckles wrapped around his wrist.

"It's okay, just breath with me." Steve smiled, exaggerating every breath he took to make them loud enough to be heard.

 

It took a second for Tony to realize what Steve was doing, and even longer to notice his breaths syncing with the blond's. Tony closed his eyes, hand wrapped around Steve's for somewhere to ground himself.

After a few minutes, Tony could feel himself calming down, the nervous energy dying into nothing more that tiredness.

"Is he going to be okay?" Tony heard Clint ask. 

Tony opened his eyes to look at the archer, sitting on the floor several feet away with a look of concern plastered to his face.

"He will." Steve said, smiling when Tony's eyes fell on him. "How're you doing?"

Tony wasn't really sure. He could feel his hands, feet, and face again, but his insides just felt... empty. He didn't like it, but he didn't fight it either. 

"Hey, bud, can you use your words please?" Steve asked, head moving to lock onto Tony's eyes once more.

Tony wasn't really sure he could, too worn out to make his body really do anything. It took a lot more effort than he thought he had just to shake his head no.

Steve nodded his understanding, taking a second to think, then asked, "Is it okay if I pick you up? I don't think you should be down here right now."

Tony nodded. Honestly, Steve could have suggested jumping from three-thousand feet without a parachute and Tony still would have agreed. He just didn't care.

Steve pulled gently on his arm, getting him out from under the desk just enough to lift him up by his armpits and settle Tony on his hip. Tony didn't react to being carried around like a toddler, instead just letting Steve do whatever. 

 

To say Steve was concerned would be an understatement. Tony wasn't reacting at all, just agreeing to whatever Steve said. It was so unlike Tony that Steve was worried he may have been replaced with a clone for a moment.

He carried Tony to the elevator, Clint following behind with a solum look. 

When they reached the communal floor, Steve went right to Bruce who was sitting on one of the large couches with the TV on, and his phone out.

He looked up when he heard the man approach, putting him phone down as his face fell. 

"What happened?"

"I think it was a panic attack, but Tony's gone completely non-verbal and I can't get anything out of him. I have no idea what caused it." Steve said, sitting down next to Bruce and taking a second to watch and Clint made a bee-line to Phil in the kitchen.

Bruce moved and grabbed for Tony's hands, resting two fingers just under his wrist as he brushed away hair form Tony's face. 

"It does look like the after affect of a panic attack. I know he's had them before, but I've never seen him like this."

Bruce tapped on Tony's cheek to pull attention toward him. Large, red-rimmed eyes looked up at Bruce, making the doctor's smile sadder than it should have been.

"Hey, Tony. Can you answer a few yes and no questions for me? All you have to do is shake or nod your head."

 

Tony thought he may be able to do that, but he wasn't sure. Still, he wanted to make Bruce happy, so he nodded yes.

"Good boy!" Bruce smiled. 

It put a small flutter into Tony's stomach, and the engineer was glad he could at least feel something.

"First off, do you want Steve to keep holding you?"

Tony moved his eyes to see that he was, in fact, still tucked tightly against Steve's chest. He liked it here, and Steve didn't seem to care. So he nodded yes.

"Okay, I'm sure he's happy to do that, right?" Bruce looked over Tony's head where the brunette was sure Steve's head was.

"Yeah, of course. Anything you need, baby boy." Steve answered, squeezing Tony a little tighter. 

Tony liked that.

"Do you know what just happened?" Bruce went on.

Tony nodded yes. He'd had them a few times before, always unpleasant, but never quite like this.

"That's good, you're being so good. Just a few more, okay?" Bruce said with an encouraging smile. "Does anything hurt, or did you fall when you were in the lab?"

Tony shook his head no. He wasn't really sure he'd be able to feel it if he did, though.

"If I have you my phone, do you think you could tell us what triggered this?" Bruce asked.

Tony looked as his hands that were currently intertwined with Steve's shirt. He let the cloth go and opened and closed his hands a few times. They seemed to work well enough. But they were still shaking and he may not be able to hit the buttons right.

"If I may interject, Doctor," JARVIS spoke, "Sir had me scan the lab for people only a few moments before the attack started. I believe he was afraid that former Stark Industries CEO Obadiah Stane may have been in the lab."

Steve couldn't help the wave of anger that went through him. Stane was gone, but he was still show how messing with Tony's life. Who would ever be so cruel to such a special Little boy? How could he have done all those things to the Tony Stark he'd had the wonderful pleaser to look after this past week.

"Thank you, JARVIS." Bruce said, sending a knowing look to Steve.

"It may be best to get him dressed and ready for bed." Bruce advised with a small smile after a long moment.

Steve nodded, standing back up and making way to his floor. He wanted to get Tony back into his Little clothes that he'd shucked first thing this morning, but he wasn't sure how Tony would take that.

Things would be so much easier if Tony was officially his. But the Little wasn't, and he may not want Steve to take the liberties of his Caregiver. So Steve took off the jeans and shirt, leaving Tony in his underwear under the covers of his bed.

Steve didn't leave the room at all, wanting to make sure Tony did fall asleep, and that he wouldn't be alone when he woke up.

 

When Tony woke up, he felt much different than yesterday. He'd felt so... different when he woke up, on edge the entire day until everything had just fallen into the bad place.

Tony opened his eyes to look around. He wasn't in any kind of bad place now. It was just Steve's room. Tony smiled. He liked Steve's room. It wasn't cluttered, but it wasn't empty, either. Just the right about of Steve to make it feel like a home, and not jut a room.

Tony let out a sigh as he stretched, reaching to rub the last bits of sleep out of his eyes as the blankets fell off his shoulders.

"Hey, morning," Steve said, almost making Tony jump ten feet into the air. "Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!"

Tony looked over his shoulder and glared at Steve. After a few seconds of taking in the man's appearance, Tony let his face soften. 

Steve was dressed in the same clothes from yesterday, face looking worn and tired.

"You could have slept, cap. No reason to give me your bed." Tony said, throwing his legs over the side and shivering as the air hit him sleep-warmed skin. "Not like we haven't shared before, right."

"I just didn't want to cross a boundary," Steve joked, standing up from his chair. "Little Tony and Big Tony don't seem to be alike very much."

Tony let out a puff of air. "Not like it matters. You've already seen my junk." 

Steve gave him a teasing smile. "Still, I don't want to cross a line."

"Hey, you're already like my Caregiver. I don't really care at this point." Tony said, only realizing what his words meant after having said them.

"I-I mean... uh... shit. Look, sorry. Don't-don't take that as a command." Tony said, mentally beating himself up.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the ground. "No, I should be the one apologizing. You couldn't give consent and I just kind of took it, anyway."

Tony looked up, shocked. "No, you were fine. Great, actually. I mean, Is never done it before, but I'd seen the way you act around Buck and it was nice." The longer he spoke, the more unsure of his words Tony became.

"Really?" Steve asked, blue eyes sparking with hope. "Because we really liked having you around. It was a lot of fun. Bucky even said that he liked having you as his little brother because I didn't dote on him so much. 

"Not that you are his brother, or that I would force you into that. I'm sure you have loads of people lined up to be your Caregiver. But it was fun having you around."

Tony felt the blush across his face and nodded. "Yeah."

They stood in an awkward silence for a few moments before Steve said, "Well, I'm going to check on Bucky."

"Yeah," Tony said, stepping out of the way and watching as Steve left the room.

Tony let his chin fall to his chest as he rubbed the back of his head. "That wasn't awkward at all." He groaned to himself.

After stealing a sweater from Steve's closet, Tony walked out of the room and toward the sound of the TV.

Why Natasha and Clint were hanging out on Steve's floor was beyond Tony, but he took a seat between the two and hugged his knees as he tried to focus in on the show.

Clint sent him a slide glance, then another to Natasha, before asking, "you okay?"

Tony sighed, but nodded a yes. 

"Oh for christ's sake! Steve!" Natasha yelled, standing up. "Steve!"

The blond rushed into the room, Bucky trailing behind, both looking slightly scared. "What?"

Natasha sent him a look, which Steve didn't seem to get as she looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes.

"Ask him, now. Before he runs off and freaks out about it again!" Natasha said, sending Steve a serious look.

"I don't know what you're--" Steve started.

"Cut the crap." Clint cut him off. "You both want the same thing, you're just too afraid to ask."

Steve looked at Tony, making the Little want to duck his head.

Bucky looked confused for a moment until he realized what they were talking about. "Daddy, please?"

Steve swallowed, and Tony closed his eyes. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew his eyes would give away his hopes to what what going on.

"Tony," Steve started, his voice soft but close. "Will you... would you like..."

"To be my little brother!" Bucky filled in.

Tony cracked an eye open, eyes already stinging. "What?"

"Would you like to join our family--officially? You, me, and Bucky." Steve asked, walking around the couch and crouching down in front of Bucky.

Tears were already falling down Tony's face as he looked at Steve, unsure if this was real. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Steve smiled softly, reaching up to to take Tony's hand. "You're so much fun to have around, Big or Little. And the past week has shown me that there's so much more to you than just the engineer. We would love to have you as part of our family."

Tony used his empty hand to wipe at his tears, unsure what to do otherwise. 

Maybe Steve was still just being nice, faking it to get closer to Tony. But, that look wasn't something anyone could fake. That was true love and want and many other things that Tony hardly recognized.

Good things didn't happen to Tony. He hardly deserved them, and it's not like he was able to take it when they did. But something in his stomach made him reach out to Steve to hold the man close.

"Please tell me that's a yes." Steve asked, wrapping his arms around Tony tightly.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself towards the embrace more and he nodded his head.


	5. Ups and Downs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of fluff and mystery for you guys~ 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and sorry for the wait!

Tony wasn't really sure what to do with himself. His hand was placed firmly in his mouth as he looked around, finding Bucky and Clint playing with Legos on the coffee table. The team was still set up on his floor of the Tower for some reason, despite the fact that it had been nearly ten days since Stane was removed from the building. 

The arms dealer was being prosecuted at the moment, and though the evidence was overwhelming, the actual trial would not start for some time, as it would take a while to sift through. Tony had gone to a board meeting this morning for the first time in years, and managed to make it all the way through before the stress started getting to him and Pepper had to call Steve. That woman had been god-send with this whole situation, seeming to take on the whole company and keep it running on her own even with the stock dropping nearly thirty points. Tony really hadn't done anything but make a single statement that said Stark Tech would be releasing a new phone here soon.

He'd been questioned by police a few times, a detective from the Submissive Abuse Prevention Agency, and even a person from the Classifications office. They were not allowed to contact Tony without Steve being present, however. Tony wasn't sure if he liked that. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't been allowed access to any news--be it written or televised. Steve had told JARVIS to block all programming until further notice for Tony's well-being.

Yeah, Steve was starting to get on Tony's nerves with all of the Caregiver shit. And the worst part was that Tony absolutely, could not--in any way, shape, or form--imagine saying he didn't like it. Because, at the end of the day, even when they'd argue over such things, Tony still had Steve around. And Steve was really only looking out for him. Tony could hardly be mad for something like that when every fiber of his being was yelling at him that this was the best thing to ever happen, outside of being Iron Man.

Thinking about that brought a whole new thought to Tony's head. He hadn't been Iron Man in a while. Then again, they hadn't really been on-call in a while. Maybe the world was just holding off until Tony officially knew what was going on with his life. Steve would give him updates on the case and paperwork when he deemed Tony "Big," but he was kept in the dark about a lot. Maybe the Avengers had been called and Tony just wasn't told. The thought almost made him mad before he remembered that JARVIS would have set off the alarm, and he would have know whether the team wanted him to or not. They couldn't override safety controls like that without Tony's codes.

Maybe all of this was just a bit much for him right now. He wasn't sure what the differences between his Big and Little sides were, but he felt like he hadn't crossed any line at all, save for that first, hectic day. Maybe there was some sense to Steve's reasoning of keeping him home for now.

Tony looked down, opening and closing his left hand as his right kept his mouth busy. Well, his hands still worked, and they did when he was Big. Wiggling his toes said they still worked, too. No difference there. And of course he could talk, Steve and Bucky always knew what he was saying! What about walking, could he do that?

Tony decided he was going to try, leaning forward on his left hand and pushing up with both his arms and legs. He smiled for a second as he realized he was standing, even though his feet and legs didn't quite seem to know how to work for a second.

"Hey, Buddy, what're you doing?" Steve asked, somehow appearing out of thin air.

Maybe for the best, as Tony had lost his balance at the sudden appearance and Steve had caught him before he hit the ground.

"Woah, you okay?" The Caregiver asked.

Tony nodded yes instinctively, but was pretty sure it was true.

"Trying to get somewhere?" Steve asked in that voice that was just a few pitches higher than normal and made Tony just a happy little ball of fluff. 

Tony just shrugged, forgetting the whole reason he'd been standing in the first place as he leaned into Steve's embrace. Steve was always so nice and warm and comfy.

"I think it's time for a bottle, huh?" Steve asked, picking Tony up and walking towards the kitchen. "Maybe that will get your hand out of your mouth."

Tony doubted that--his right hand was perfect for all things chewing and sucking!

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" Bucky yelled, running across the room to attach himself to Steve's leg.

"Alright, give me just a sec to get something for Tony and then I can start lunch, okay?" Steve asked as he walked towards the kitchen with both Littles.

"I can start on the boys's lunch if you want to give Tones his bottle." Phil said, pulling Bucky off Steve's leg and landing a few tickles on his stomach.

Tony watched as Bucky laughed and pushed away the hands. He couldn't help but laugh, too, because Bucky was making silly faces.

"That funny, huh?" Steve asked, smiling when Tony turned his head.

"Bucky's silly!" Tony laughed, letting his head rest back on Steve's shoulder.

Steve laughed and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet. 

There was a question: why was it that only Tony got bottles? Bucky got sippy-cups, right? And so did Clint. Neither of them used such a baby-ish object. That got Tony to thinking that maybe he shouldn't use them, either. Tony was a big boy, after all. 

Just as he was about to tell Steve what he thought, he felt himself being laid back to rest in Steve's arms on the couch.

"Gotta take your hand out of your mouth, buddy." Steve chuckled, guiding Tony hand to his chest and holding the bottle for the Little to start sucking on.

Tony took the bottle into his mouth, deciding he'd just tell Steve later. Right now was bottle time and he was really too tired for anything else.

 

Steve watched as Tony's eyes fluttered closed and his mouth went lax around the bottle. He was really cute all wrapped up like this, clinging to Steve's shirt with one hand while the other rested over his Caregiver's on the bottle. He was absolutely the cutest thing on Earth.

"He out?" Phil asked when he came over with a mug of coffee.

Steve took it gratefully, nodding his head. "I figured he'd need an early nap today."

"Hard night?"

"Just a bit, yeah." Steve laughed. "He just would not fall asleep. I think he's too caught between spaces right now and it's taking a tole on him."

"I was thinking the same thing. He doesn't seem to stick to one or the other very well." Phil said, eyes scanning over the Little.

"Daddy! When's lunch gonna be ready?" Clint yelled across the living room.

Phil sighed, sending an apology to Steve before getting up to talk to Clint about yelling indoors again. Steve chuckled, knowing this time would've just as effective as all the others.

But Phil's absence gave him a chance to think over his words. Tony really was having a hard time sticking to one or the other. The board meeting the other day had almost sent him completely Big, but he'd crashed afterwards. Maybe this was something they should be concerned about?

Clearly, there were Littles who chose to just be Little all the time. But most enjoyed at least some time as a Big, or a break from headspace. Then again, most of the Littles Steve has as comparison hadn't been forced to ignore their Classification their whole lives. Tony could just be catching up on lost time. Or maybe he just wasn't ready to deal with the world right now and it was easier to just have Steve do it for him? Steve really wasn't sure, but it was starting to worry him.

When Tony said yes to being Steve's Little, he'd immediately dropped. Thanks to the team, he was still able to get the paperwork signed and filed after a few days. He was officially Tony's Caregiver. And he felt like he was failing. Was Tony getting everything he needed? Was he upset and just not able to express it? Was Steve doing something that was making this situation worse? There could be so many things he was doing wrong and he just wouldn't know because Tony wouldn't know any better and--

"Stop that." Natasha said, socking him on the thigh harder than strictly necessary.

"Ow, what was that for?" Steve asked in his best whisper-yell.

"You're over-thinking again." Natasha said as she flopped down on the couch. "Tony will be okay."

Steve rubbed as his leg and sighed, unconsciously pulling Tony a little closer to his chest. "You think?"

Natasha smiled. "Do you remember that time Phil left town for a month or two and Clint always seemed to be too busy to play with Bucky and you?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded, "Bucky was really upset he didn't have anyone to play with."

"And then Phil came home and no one could figure out why Clint spent the next week in Little space and just couldn't seem to be Big." Natasha went on, "Clint spent that whole time denying his Little side and he felt absolutely terrible. Almost like he had the flu. So he stayed away so we wouldn't find out he wasn't getting time as a Little and just made everything worse until Phil was home."

Oh, Steve remembered this part very well. He'd felt like absolute crap after finding out because, though he'd ask JARVIS for status reports, he never knew how bad things had gotten. Tony had even entered new protocol to make sure that it wouldn't happen again--something that would alert people if anyone went more that seven days without headspace time. 

Clearly, he hadn't added himself into that. Steve would have to get him on that once Tony was Big enough to do so.

"My point is that Tony's just going to need some time. And maybe someone more... his age?" Natasha suggested, looking towards the two Littles at the table who were now happily gabbing over bowls of food.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked. "Bucky and Clint are great with Tony."

"Of course they are, but they're also much older developmentally in headspace than Tony is and I think he's started to notice."

Steve let his head fall back as realization hit him like a brick. "No wonder he didn't want his pacifier this morning."

Natasha gave a soft smile, patting Steve's leg. "Maybe we can have Petter over tomorrow. I'll even call Wade so you don't have to."

Steve laughed, looking to woman in her eyes. "Thank you."

Natasha nodded, standing back up and heading into the kitchen. 

Steve had a small suspicion that Natasha wasn't just a Neutral. Or maybe she'd just been handing around this group enough to know what was what when it came to Littles. 

Either way, Steve was grateful. For her and the team. He'd never have this Little boy without all of them. And what a tragedy that would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Did you know, commenting makes me write faster?)
> 
> XD
> 
> But, seriously, comments are always appreciated but never expected!


	6. A Dat at the Park(er)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this took so long to get out! I know you all have been waiting a long time! But, as you know, I am back in school and that takes a shit load of my time.
> 
> (Not beta’d—all mistakes are my own.)
> 
> So, between my mental breakdowns and helping my girlfriend/other friends with theirs, I managed to get this down!
> 
> Please enjoy this long as shit chapter as my apology!

"Hey, baby boy. Time to get up."

These were Tony's words received of the morning. He liked to keep track since things had changed so much from how JARVIS used to wake him with the date and time.

Don't get him wrong, Tony loved JARVIS. But the AI's morning banter was nothing compared to Steve.

Tony smiled, rubbing at his eyes. He'd ended up in bed between falling asleep yesterday night and this morning.

There was a calmness in the air Tony wasn’t used to—the world silent and air still. There was not a trace of the world’s stress or troubles as Steve picked him up and carried him over to the chafing table. The wipe didn’t even sting as much as it normally did with a mixture of wet and cold. Tony’s hands occupied his thoughts through the change, one of them shoved into his mouth and the other opening and closing in front of his face. 

It was cool that Tony didn’t even have to think about it for his hand to ball into a fist. But he could think about it, too, and it would still work.

“What’re you doing, silly?” Steve asked, jogging Tony’s thoughts back into the room. 

Tony smiled, kicking his feet as he giggled.

“Well, aren’t you just a happy little thing this afternoon!” Steve grinned back, chasing one of Tony’s feet. 

Tony kicked more, spinning his legs in circles to keep away from Steve’s hands. When Steve did finally catch Tony’s right leg, he kissed the soul and Tony broke out in laughter.

“Come on, silly boy. Let’s get you all dressed.” Steve reached for a pair of pants, wrestling them onto Tony’s still-flailing legs. This was quickly followed by a pair of socks with bumble bees buzzing around across the fabric.

 

Just as Steve was putting a long-sleeve shirt on the Little, Bucky burst into the room. Tony didn’t mind, though. Bucky was so cool, he could come in any time he wanted!

“Daddydaddydaddydaddy!” Bucky said, pulling in Steve’s shirt hem. 

“Please don’t pull on my shirt, it might get stretched out. What is it, bud?” Steve asked, picking Tony up and settling the younger Little on his hip.

“Clint and uncle Phil are here! And abut Tasha said uncle Wade and Peter are coming!” Bucky jumped up and down as he reported the news.

“Yeah, I think we’re all going to the park today. Does that sound like fun?” Steve asked, festering for Bucky to step out of the doorway and into the hall so that Steve could carry Tony into the kitchen.

Bucky did as he was asked, but tailed Steve all the way. “Are we really! I wanna go to the park!”

“Yes, really.” Steve laughed.

“Probably should have waited to tell him that after snacks.” Phil joked from the kitchen.

Steve shrugged, setting Tony down on the counter. “We’ll be leaving once everyone gets here, anyway. Best to get him ready before hand.”

Phil nodded, spinning around to grab milk from the fridge.

“Where’s Clint?” Steve asked as he grabbed the carton of orange juice, a sippy cup, and a bottle. 

“Couch. He’s still a bit worn from the mission. I told him he could sleep on the couch until Wade and Peter to get here.” 

“Awe. Poor little guy.” Steve gave the bottle to Tony who hand his arms out stretched.

Tony had settled well into schedule—breakfast, play time, a bottle of warm milk and a nap, then snack time when he woke up. It was actually kind of adorable when something didn’t happen quite on time and Tony would follow Steve around.

Steve lifted Tony off the counter and walked him over to the play mat in the living room. He handed the sippy cup to Bucky with a kiss, then went back to the kitchen.

“Are you thinking about dinner at the park?” Phil asked, having put the milk back into the fridge and screwing on a cap of a purple sippy cup.

“Yeah, I was thinking picnic-style pizza? It’d be a nice treat for all the kids.” Steve reached for a glass to get himself some water.

“That’d be nice.” Phil said after a second of thought. “We might was to do dinner a little early, then. Just so the kids have time to play afterwards, too.”

“Captain Rogers, Agent Coulson, there is an email from Ms. Pots I was asked to inform both of you about.” JARVIS said over the speakers in the kitchen, keeping his voice low as to not alert the Littles.

Phil and Steve shared a look before they both pulled out their phones and checked their emails.

Both emails stated that the team was expected to stand and testify against Stane, and give any proof they have that Tony was not involved in any of the illegal trades that were going on. 

“The whole team?” Steve asked.

Phil nodded, rereading the email. “Everyone who was present the day everything went down.”

“Court date set for two weeks from today.” Steve sighed, locking his phone and letting it slip back into his pocket. “I don’t know if Tony’ll be ready.”

Phil looked over toward the living room, watching Tony and Bucky giggle and a large amount of Duplos scatter across the floor. “He’s not alone anymore. He’ll be okay. No one can stop Big Tony’s determination to get back at the guy who nearly ruined his company.”

Steve nodded, letting Phil’s words mute his concerns for now.

Both men looked towards the elevator as it dinged, the large metal doors scraping open. Peter dashed out, running straight towards Steve and Phil with open arms.

“Peter!” Wade called after the Little, stepping out of the elevator and following his boy. “No running in the... Tower with lots of space to run...”

Steve laughed as Peter wrapped his arms around the Caregiver. “No running in the living quarters, okay?” Steve lightly scalded, squeezing the boy tightly.

“Muhum!” Peter said before letting go and hugging Phil.

“Hey guys.” Wade smiled, setting down his bag on the table.

Steve waved as Phil whispered into Peter’s ear, seeming to give him an important task as Peter’s face went very serious before he walked off into the living room.

At Steve’s questioning look, Phil laughed. “I just asked him to wake up Clint and tell him it’s time to go to the park.”

“Ah~” Steve looked back to Wade. “No Vanesa today?”

“No, she had work today.” Wade sighed.

“She’s gonna miss all the fun!” Phil laughed.

Wade held up a very nice-looking camera and said, “I have been instructed to capture the entire day on threat of my life.”

 

Tony watched as Peter tip-toed over to Clint, trying to hold back laughter, but not being very good at it. Peter was dressed in blue over all’s and a white long sleeve shirt. He looked very Little indeed.

Peter poked Clint’s nose once, then twice. On the third poke, Clint let out a groan and swiped at his face. Peter reached out one more time before Clint opened his eyes.

“Peter, stahp.” He groaned, rubbing at his eyes.

“Un’ca Phil said time to go park!” Peter said in a yelling whisper.

Clint rolled onto his back, still rubbing at his eyes. “Tired.”

“Please, Clint! Daddy never takes us to the park!” Bucky joined in, pushing his weight into the couch to shake it back and forth.

Clint sat up, shooting around in the couch to sit on it backwards and look towards the kitchen. Tony watched as Phil came over with a purple sippy cup. 

“You all ready to go?”

Three cheering voices sounded back. Tony jumped up and down on his butt.

“Alright! I need shoes on for everyone, please!” Tony watched as Clint and Bucky dashed for the coat closet behind the couch, tucked into the corner, where they kept their shoes. 

“Got on ‘ready!” Peter said, lifting one of his feet a foot off the ground to show.

“Good job, little man.” Phil smiled, rustling the Little’s hair.

Letter giggled, play-swiping at Phil’s hand.

Tony watched as Bucky pulled out his strap-on shoes and plowed down on the ground to put them on, Clint following. Tony put his weight forward, falling into his hands and getting his legs under him to crawl to the older boys.

Just as he was about to reach the closet to start rummaging around, two hands went for his armpits and lifted him off the ground. 

“What’re you doing, silly?” Steve said, settling Tony into his hip and walking back down the hall way.

Tony kicked his feet to show he didn’t have on shoes. Steve walked in, towards Tony’s room. Did this mean Tony wasn’t going to get to go? Did he do something? Was Steve going to just leave him in the room the whole time?

Just as tears were starting to come to Tony’s eyes, Steve walked to the closet and dig through Tony’s shoe rack, gently bouncing the Little in his arms.

“We’re going to have to get you some play clothes, buddy.” Steve said, letting out a sigh.

Tony looked down at the clothes he was wearing, the stuff that Steve had put in this morning. He liked these clothes. The looked kind of big so that Bucky and Clint knew he was a big kid, but with the onesie on underneath that kept him warm. So Tony shook his head in disagreement.

“You don’t have any cute shirts or socks, and it doesn’t even look like you have play shoes.” Steve said, seemingly more to himself than the Little in his arms. “We should really get you a crib and some of your own toys, too.”

Tony’s right hand was shoved back into his mouth as he listened to Steve. 

“Would you like that? Get your own room right next to Bucky and me on my floor?” Steve closed the closet and went to the next one.

Tony wasn’t sure, his Big side thinking there was no need for such trouble and his Little side excited to be so close to Steve. 

Steve opened the next closet to find the same array of dress clothes and slacks. He moved on to the wardrobe off to the side, pulling open those doors and seem to have found what he was looking for.

That was the place Tony knew his big side kept all of the clothes he wore into the workshop. Shirts he’d had since college, a few he’d stollen from Rhodey over the years, and some he wasn’t really sure how he obtained. They were covered in stains, but they were the comfiest.

Sitting on the bottom shelf were a few pairs of beat-up shoes. They were all black and lace ups, but this didn’t seem to deter Steve as he grabbed a pair and sat Tony down on the bed to lace them up.

Tony giggled as Steve chased his feet around the same way he had with his socks, kicking this way and that until Steve had caught them. When both feet were covered, Steve walked back out of the room and towards the living room.

“Everyone ready!” Steve called out.

A choirs of cheers sounded out, making Tony giggle excitedly. He never really got the chance to leave the Tower with Stane. Then again, he hadn’t really gotten the chance to do a lot of things with Stane around.

It took a bit to get to the park. Steve had said he wanted to go to one a bit off the beaten path for some reason, so they had Happy drive everyone slightly out of town to a park made for Little use. 

Steve didn’t set Tony down at all, and Tony loved every second of it until he saw that Clint and Bucky were allowed to run around as the Caregivers set up the picnic table and surrounding area with blankets and toys and drinks. Tony wiggled to be put down, but Steve just shifted him to another arm, patting his butt a few times. Tony let out a whine, wiggling more until he caught sight of Wade holding Peter, dancing a bottle in front of his face. 

Tony watched as Peter giggled, reaching out for the bottle, but Wade moving it before he could. Peter changed directions, this time grabbing the bottle and laughing, sticking it into his mouth victoriously. 

If Peter was being carried, Tony supposes he could be, too. He didn’t really want to leave any way.

“Bucky, Clint. Stay within eat shot, please!” Phil called after the Little’s as they ran for the play ground.

He was given two okays in reply.

“Come on, sweet boy. Want to go play?” Steve asked. 

Tony nodded his head, this time meaning it when he wiggled to be put down. Steve obliged, gently putting the boy on his feet, but holding both of his hands above his head. Tony didn’t understand why until he took a step and nearly lost his balance. Steve held him up, keeping his face out of the gravel. Tony looked back at Steve and got an encouraging smile in return.

Tony took that to mean he was good to go at started—carefully—walking towards the play ground. Bucky and Clint seemed to be heading for monkey bars, but Tony didn’t have much interest for that. Maybe he could go down the slides? Or up the rock wall? Tony stopped walking, looking around at his options. The was always the fireman’s pole and the walking bridge, but he wasn’t sure he could do that. 

A fit of laughter pulled Tony’s attention away from all of the equipment and towards a small sectioned off area when uncle Wade had just placed Peter. Wanting to know what was so fun, Tony made his way towards them, Steve keeping him steady in his feet.

“You wanna play with Peter, baby?” Steve asked, not waiting for an answer as he hoisted Tony up and into what the Little could now see was a sand pit.

Tony plopped down, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stand without Steve’s help, and watched as Wade pulled sand pails and shovels from his bag.

It was just dirt, Tony didn’t understand what was so fun. He shoved his hand into the lose partials, grabbing a fist full and lifting it up. He opened his hand nd watched as everything made its way back into the box. That was... kinda fun? Tony did it again, this time, he giggled the whole way though it. Then he dug in two hands, and it was twice as much fun!

“‘ony!” Peter laughed behind him.

Tony tuned around, showing his new trick to Peter. Peter giggled, handing Tony a shovel and pail.

“‘and ca’le?” He asked.

Tony nodded, drips g his last handful of sand. A castle was a great idea! He’d seen people make them loads for times! He’d never made one himself, but it looked like a bucket of fun!

Peter and Tony filled the pails with sand, tipping them over to create large piles. Peter went looking for sticks and leaves while Tony finished up what they were calling the wizard’s Tower. Because, “can’t have a ca’le ‘out a ‘izzar’ ‘ower!”

Tony agreed completely. 

When Peter got back, they stuck a stick and leaf into the top of every tower, and started on the mote. 

By the time they were done, they’d taken up the whole sand box. 

“Did good job!” Peter smiled, clapping his hands.

Tony followed, clapping along.

“Baby Tony!” Bucky yelled as he ran across the field. “Dragons coming!”

Tony’s eyes went to the sky. Finding no dragon, he looked back at Bucky and found Clint chasing him.

“Rawr!” Clint yelled, tackling Bucky to the ground.

Bucky laughed, pushing Clint off and getting himself up before helping Clint. They dusted themselves off, then made way to the other pair of Littles.

“No dragons!” Tony said, scowling at the older boys.

“I’m not a dragon anymore! I’m a knight!” Said Clint.

“Yeah! We care to protect the castle!” Bucky pointed at the sand between Peter and Tony were their castle center resided. 

“Good knight?” Peter asked, skeptical look across his face.

“Yep!” Said Clint, flashing a smile.

Peter nodded his head. “Then ca’ ‘tec’ ca’le.”

“Are you all the kings?” Bucky asked, flopping down on the other side of the sandbox.

Peter nodded. “Good king! Daddy ‘aid ‘o!”

“Good, because if you weren’t, wed have to kill you and destroy your castle!” Clint stated, sitting closer to Tony.

“No!” Tony yelled. He was not going to let anyone destroy his castle!

“We’re not gonna!” Bucky said, glaring at Clint. “Daddy wouldn’t let him!”

“Stee get mad!” Tony glared at Clint, watching his hands to make sure they made no move for his castle. 

“How come you call him Steve?” Clint asked.

Tony sruged. “Cause is Stee.”

“No, It’s daddy.” Bucky said. 

“I bet you’d make his whole day if you called him daddy.” Clint snickered. 

Tony looked down at his hands fiddling in the sand. “What if doesn’t like?”

“Daddy loves being called daddy!” Bucky laughed. “He said it fills his heart to know he’s important to someone!”

“And two is twice is better as one! I bet he’d be twice as happy!” Clint said, nudging Tony. 

Tony shrugged. He’d never been allowed to call anyone daddy before. Howard has insisted on being called father, and he’d never had a caregiver before Steve. 

But Bucky called Steve daddy. And Clint called Phil daddy. And Petter called Wade daddy. Tony’s be the odd one out if he didn’t. And Tony really wanted to fit in.

“If you call daddy ‘daddy,’ I’ll give you half of my cookie I brought for snack!” Bucky said, voice raising in pitch with the bribe.

Now Tony had set his mind. He may have been shy, but he was very food-motivated. He was really only a cookie away from doing anything anyone asked.

“Deal?” Bucky asked.

Tony nodded, determination set. The next time he saw Steve, he’d do it.

 

Steve had order the pizza half an hour ago, and it had just arrived. Phil went to fetch it as Steve called out to Wade to grab the kids for dinner.

Steve was a little surprised none of the Little’s had run up to him begging for food, yet. They’d been here for almost two hours. But, as Steve looked out at the park, he realized they were all too caught up in their games. They all sat in the sand pit, giggling and chatting.

It was good to see everyone getting along so well. And, Steve was happy to see, Tony was acting a little more his age. Steve had everything in time with Wade, though he had to help Tony walk to the sand pit because the Little was still unsteady on his feet. Tony looked like he was having much more fun today than he had the previous.

Phil sat the pizza boxes on the table, baring Steve from his thoughts.

“All alright?” Phil asked.

“Yeah, was just seeing how much fun everyone’s having.” Steve laughed, walking over to help Phil with the set up.

“They’re gonna sleep well tonight.” Phil chuckled. “Wade rounding them up?”

“Yeah, should be back in a sec.” 

In the meantime, Phil and Steve sat out plates and pizza, knowing what each Little would want. When Clint touched the table yelling, “I won!” Steve turned around to watch Bucky zoom in, Peter next to Wade’s side as he helped Tony walk over.

“No fair! You got a head start!” Bucky whined, plopping down at the table.

“Did not! You just started slow!” Clint replied, sticking out his tongue as he said, “Slow-poke! Slow-poke!”

“Clint, stop.” Phil warned, effectively quieting the Little.

Steve walked over to get Tony from Wade, nodding a thanks as he reached down for the Little. 

“Da’ie!” Tony shouted, letting go of Wade’s hands and almost falling. 

Luckily, Steve’s hands had already be in place to pick the boy up. It was only after he had Tony in his arms that the word processed in his head.

He looked up at Wade with wide eyes to confirm his thoughts. Wade had a large grin across his face as he reached down to swing Peter onto his hip.

“Did he just...”

“Da’ie!” Tony said again, this time a little softer as he tucked his head against Steve’s chest.

Steve squeezed Tony to his chest in the biggest hug possible without hurting the Little. He never thought he be so attached to someone who wasn’t Bucky. This Little meant so much to him and now... now Steve knew he meant something to the Little. A small piece fell into his heart and I was complete to a point that Steve had no idea it could reach.

He was a daddy to two boys. It had been a hard road, but one Steve would take again and again if it meant a he’d have both of them by his side.

Hanging on for a few more seconds, Steve finally let the Little go. “Let’s get some pizza.”

“‘Izza!” Tony cheered, hand in his mouth.

Steve tried not to cringe thinking about everything that may have been in that sandbox, instead pulling Tony’s hand out of his mouth.

 

Tony wasn’t sure at all when he’d come face to face with Steve. But he had a deal with Bucky to keep. When he’d seen Steve, he was going to shout out his name. But it didn’t seem to fit anymore. 

Steve was Big Tony’s friend. And Tony was as far from Big as he could possibly get, the suddenly wet diaper between his legs reminded him of that. (He wasn’t really sure when that had happened, either.) Daddy just kind of slipped. Even if he’d been thinking about it. But then he saw the smile spread across Steve’s face and knew it was the right thing.

The second time was on purpose. Words were still hard to say, but that one was natural. Easy, even. 

Yeah, Tony decided, I’ll be using that a lot more.

When they were all settled down for lunch, pizza cut into easily-chewable chunks, Tony looked down to see half a cookie suddenly on his plate. Tony looked up and around, finding Bucky munching on a cookie across from him.

Bucky winked, and Tony smiled. Bucky had only dared Tony to say the word once. The second time, Bucky must have known, was totally his choice.

Tony picked up the cookie and took off a large bite. Worth every syllable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments never expected, but always appreciated. (Helps me keep what little of my will to live I have left.)
> 
> Love you guys!!!


	7. The Trial (pt. 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, a whole month... not my best update time... But, we’re finally on the drama!!! There may only be a few more chapters of this left because this one was more story line and the other one was more of the fluffy stuff! 
> 
> I din’t think there are any trigger warnings, but, if there are, please let me know and I will be sure to tag it!

THC7

Steve took a deep breath, stepping into the elevator and pushing the button for Tony’s floor. He hated this. Hated every second. He hated it so much he could hardly stand to not punch something. The only thing that kept him back was the fear that Tony wouldn’t like it.

So Steve would grit his teeth and keep his mouth shut, but there was no way in hell he wouldn’t be there. Not even if Tony had asked—which Steve was nearly sure he never would. Not with the way things had been going.

The team did their best to try and keep Tony distracted while he was Little, and he wasn’t allowed to be left alone on the few days he was Big. Someone was always with him, even in the lab. They’d sit on a couch in the corner, doing something that made them look busy while they were really looking after him. Natasha would read, Steve would draw, Bruce would chime in on projects. 

Steve was afraid Tony would feel overwhelmed or annoyed, but he didn’t seem to be putting up any kind of fight to the situation. It just showed how much Tony may have needed it.

But now, it was four hours before the trial and Pepper wanted to go over everyone’s testimonies one last time before the case started. They had arranged everything, but Pepper was a bit of a perfectionist. 

And so, as Tony stepped onto the elevator, Steve hit the button for the top floor of SI, and down they went. Steve did a check-over of Tony out of the side of his eye, taking in the dark, pin stripe suit and combed back hair. It had been a long time since Steve had seen Tony like this. All of his masks were up, every protection he had put in place before the team had found out nearly two-months ago. Steve felt a small pang of gut-wrenching guilt when he thought about how he has assumed that was the real Tony. It was hard to watch the Little become something he was not, but Steve understood. He could hardly fault Tony for protecting himself.

They stepped off the elevator and onto the brightly lit floor. There were a few people walking around and a phone ringing in the background. It was all so surreal. So normal. Steve stole a glance of Tony one last time, trying not to over analyze Tony’s schooled face and stiff walking.

“Ms. Potts said to go ahead and wave you through.” A secretary said as they approached.

Steve nodded his thanks, pushing open the translucent glass door. 

“Rogers, Stark,” Natasha said as way of greeting. 

“Romanov.” Steve hated the formality, but that was what was expected of him. 

“We have two hours before the trial starts. That gives us an hour and a half to go over everything again.” Pepper said, handing Steve and Tony a file of papers. The same ones they’d been taking notes on for the past two weeks. 

Tony took a seat at the chair in front of him, Steve taking one to his left. 

“Let’s get started.”

 

Tony adjusted in his seat, flapping his jacked a bit as he settled in. He knew he’d be called to the stand. He’d been working on what to say, how to say it—everything—with Pepper. But none of that had been twelve feet away from Stane. His heart was yelling at him to run, but his head kept his face schooled and his butt in the seat.

They’d already been here for two hours, Steve, Natasha, and Clint already having taken the stand. Pepper has some kind of idea that hold off on Tony would make his testimony more meaningful. 

A man in a navy blue suit, with his hair slicked back and face twisted into an oily smile stood up, buttoning his jacket. Tony had seen his kind before, he knew how to handle them. But he still hated every second the man’s coffee-stained breath was pointed in his direction.

“Mr. Stark, to begin our set of questions, may I ask how old you were when you were Classified?”

“Eighteen, just like everyone else.” Tony said.

“So after your parents died?” The man asked.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Then how did your father know what forms to fill out before his passing foe you to own Stark Industries?”

Pepper had told him the defense had grabbed some old paper work Howard had filled out. His voice sounded more like her as he said, “It is not uncommon to guess at one’s Classification years prior to the test.”

The man nodded his head. “Of course, of course. Yet, there is not record of you having been Classified as a Little at that time.”

Tony looked towards Pepper, watching her still and unfazed face. A quick glimpse at Steve show him the same expression. Maybe that action alone was proof of his Classification—he felt some need to see how they were reacting before he could react himself. He mirrored his expression of theirs, answering the question. 

“My father was rather ashamed to have a Little as a son. Sign of the times.”

“Yet he was willing to sign over the company?”

“I do not try to understand my father’s train of thought, as it is often I nonsensical.”

“Why do you believe he left the company to you?”

“Objection, no relation.” Pepper said firmly before Tony had a chance to think.

“What are you getting at, Mr. Spat?” The judge asked.

“I’m trying to find a reason a man who seemed to hate his son so much left his whole legacy to him.” The lawyer responded. 

“The jury will ignore the question. Only relative questions from now on, Mr. Spat.” The judge said.

The lawyer’s lips tightened as he took a few paces to the left. “Yes, your Honor.”

A few seconds ticked by as he thought, then asked, “Mr. Stark, why hide your Classification from the public?”

Ton knew what the man was trying to do now—he was trying to get the jury to believe he lied about his Classification and, in turn, the whole situation. 

“Mr. Stane had been a business partner of my father for many years. He had told me that being Little would be a one-track ticket to losing the company.”

“And you never looked into these facts yourself?”

“Like I said, he’d been a business partner of my father for many years. He was an adopted uncle. I had no reason to doubt him.”

“Yet you did, eventually, doubt him?”

“On the advice of my friends, yes.” Tony stole a glance over at the group. Bucky sat towards the front, face stoic with hair covering his eyes. Still, it made him feel better knowing the man was there. 

He may not have been Little right then, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want his older brother. 

“What did they say that made you doubt Mr. Stane.”

“They brought to my attention that a Little was now required to have a Contract if a Caregiver wished to become the sole investment. That both parties must agree, or the contract would be obsolete. Mr. Stane had lead me to believe that this was not the case, and that if I ever told anyone he would make a Caregiver claim and I would lose my stock in the company.”

He could see the pained faces of those few people in the crowd, faces down turned. A look towards Pepper told him he was doing everything right.

“And you listened because you...”

“Would rather keep the only thing I had to my name.” Tony spat. “Stane took everything I had, manipulated me into things I did not want to do, used me for tech he sold behind my back, locked me in my lab for days in end until I did what he wanted, and took away any power I had to do anything about it. So you tell me what you’d so in that situation.”

The whole room went silent, not even the shuffling of papers to ease it. Tony looked over to Steve, the man looking like a deer caught in headlights, silent words of, “Locked in the lab?” tracing his lips.

“You really think I did 36-plus hours solid in a lab because I wanted to?” He looked Stane dead in the eyes and he spoke through closed teeth and tight lips. “I had no choice.”

And, suddenly, the silence ended and an uproar broke through the room. The judge smacked the anvil down as hard as he could, yelling for order that didn’t come.

“The court will silence or everyone will be removed!” The judge finally yelled with one last wrap of his mallet.

The room’s sound went down, a few scattered whispers being the only ruminates. The judge nodded towards the defense lawyer to continue. 

The man adjusted his suit, clearly not sure where to go from here. After a few seconds of him saying nothing, Pepper stood up.

“Your honer, I move for a break.”

“Granted. Court will resume in an hour with Mr. Stark back on the stand.” He beat the mallet, and stood, the court following. 

When he was out, the room erupted back into noise.

Tony stood on wobbly legs, walking back to Steve. Something in the Caregiver must have been able to tell what was going on. Tony knew he was going to drop. He knew it was going to be hard. And he knew he wasn’t going to fight it. Steve told him it would be okay if he had to, right? Tony wasn’t so sure anymore, his brain being too fuzzy to really remember what had happened before they came in.

Steve was warm, though. And his chest was the best spot to lay his head. Tony wiggled a bit to get his head in the perfect spot, breathing in Steve’s sent with every breath. It calmed his heart rate a bit just to be here, wrapped in Steve’s arms. No one would be able to do anything to him so long as he stayed with daddy.

He could hear people talking above him, but his head was too fuzzy to really work any of it out. He stopped trying after a moment, content to snuggle. Being adult was hard. He didn’t like it. He liked daddy and Bucky, though. They were the best.

Suddenly, he was lifted from daddy’s arms and into... Bucky’s? Yeah, must have been. Tony could recognize that smell anywhere. Leather and mint, with just a bit of BO from his unwashed hoodie under the jacket. Tony didn’t care. It was awesome to be with Bucky.

And then they were walking. Tony hoped it was away from that bad man and towards home. He wanted to play with Bucky! Although, his eyes were telling him he may need a nap. They didn’t want to open right now. That was okay, too, he guessed. Then he could go home and play after! He knew his Bigger self hadn’t had much sleep because of the trial. Yeah, he’d just take a nap, and then play all afternoon! He snuggled closer to Bucky, proud of his plan even with a fuzzy head.

 

“Incoming,” Bucky said behind Steve. 

Steve knew it was bound to happen even if Bucky hadn’t warned him. He could see the look on Tony’s face, the way he wobbled a bit as he walked. Steve reached out his arms, knowing he was receiving his Little and not his good friend. 

“What’re we going to do?” Steve asked Pepper. “We have to be back in an hour, and Tony has to retake the stand.”

“Exceptions can be made in these cases. If the defense claims they are finished with the witness, he may not need to be back at all.” Pepper said, organizing her papers into folders as she spoke. “And after what he just said, I don’t thing thy want him up there.”

Steve nodded, holding onto Tony as he wiggled around in his lap. The Little has a favorite spot he liked to lay against and had to find it every time he was with Steve. 

“You will have to stay, though. We need someone who can speak for him and you’d be fist pick.”

Steve nodded. “I can do that. I’ll call Coulson to—“

“Just let me take him.” Bucky said, standing up and walking around the fence that separates the crowd and proceedings. 

“Bucky, I’m not sure that’s—“

“Steve, I know how to be Big for two hours until you get back.” Bucky held out his arms, moving to take Tony. “They don’t need me here, and Coulson is on mission.”

Honestly, it sounded like a recipe for disaster. What if Bucky dropped and didn’t know what he was doing, and one or both of them ending up hurt. But, if he told Bucky that, the boy’s heart would be broken. So, against his better judgment, he handed Tony over. The boy didn’t seem to notice, cuddling right into Bucky.

“Be careful. And, if you need anything, please call one of us.” Steve said.

“Mother hen.” Bucky puffed. “We’ll be fine. Let us know when you’re coming back?”

Steve nodded, and watched as his two Littles walked away, praying they’d be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being so awesome! I love you guys!!!


	8. Not the Best Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m not dead! I realized that I hadn’t ever posted this chapter and, well, that was stupid of me! I hope to have this whole story finished off here soon so I can move on before starting (another) work with our Little friends! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!!

THC 8

Bucky regretted his decision the second they were in the car. It hadn’t occured to him that he’d never really watched Tony without someone else there. But he schooled his face as he held Tony close, focusing on the window.

All he had to do was put Tony down for a nap, right? The Little would be out for hours and Bucky wouldn’t have to worry about watching Tony or something bad happening because Steve would be home when he woke up!

Bottle and bed. Bucky could do that, right?

Bucky could not do that.

The second they got back to the tower, Tony was crying his eyes out and clinging to Bucky for dear life. The Little did not want to be put down, but he needed to be undressed and changed. Steve always said “diaper first” when Tony was Little. 

Bucky waddled through the hall, trying to walk as best her could with Tony holding on and squeezing his upper thighs. 

Steve made this look so easy!

“Sergeant Barnes, if I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion, Captain Rogers sings when young Sir is this agitated.” JARVIS some how chimed in over Tony’s wails.

Duh, Bucky thought, deciding to take the rocking chair instead of forcing the Little to let him go. Steve sang a lot of old songs, and his voice was a lot better, but Bucky still tried his best. 

There had been a new song on the radio lately that Bucky had loved right away, and played it back to back every chance he got. He didn’t know all the words yet, but he didn’t think Tony would really care.

“I found a love for me. Darling just dive right in, and follow my lead.” Bucky started. He made sure to sing really soft, the way Steve did late at night when Bucky had bad dreams.

“I found a boy, beautiful and sweet. Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me.” He doubted Tony would notice the pronouns changing to apply to the Little. 

So what if it was supposed to be a love song. Bucky told lots of people they were beautiful. Steve always said there’s always room for love. And Tony needed lots of it.

Tony was already seeming to calm down, so Bucky kept on, pausing for small breaths and rocking the chair ever so slightly. They weren’t in the most comfortable position, but Bucky didn’t really care. He held Tony close and tried his best to calm the Little.

Finally, after two run throughs of the song, Tony was back to simple sniffles. His face was red and damp, and his eye were barely open, but he seemed content enough to just _be_.

Bucky played with the thought of just staying that way for a bit, but then realized he really did have to get Tony into Little clothes. Pepper would be after both of them if his suit were to get ruined by snot or urine.

Bucky stood slowly, keeping one hand on Tony’s back as he used the other to push himself up. The Little only let out a small murmur, so Bucky took his chance and sat him on the changing table. 

Starting with Tony’s shirt, Bucky stripped him ofthe entire suit, throwing it to the side to be delt with later. Bucky channeled his inner Steve, keeping one hand on Tony’s tummy as he reached to grab a diaper. This party, Bucky could do. After watching Steve and Phil do it so much, it really wasn’t hard. 

When Tony was “properly padded,” as Steve put it, Bucky helped the Little sit up so he could be dressed. After crying so much, he didn’t seen to have much energy to fight against being dressed the way he did with Steve. Although, Bucky had a hunch that was all just a game between them.

Finally, Tony was fully dressed and droopy-eyed. Bucky was hoping that he’d be out like a light with the aide of a warm bottle.

It took a bit of maneuvering but Bucky managed to get Tony back onto his hip to carry him down the hall and back toward the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle from the cabinet, sitting it on the counter before reaching back for a can of the stuff Steve used to make Tony’s milk. 

He manages to get three scoops from the plastic spoon into the bottle and turns on the tap to fill it the rest of the way with water. He placed it on the counter to adjust Tony higher on his hip.

In the two seconds it too for Bucky to do a small bounce, Tony to kick out a bit, and them to both settle, the bottle had made it’s way to the floor, bouncing with a solid thunk right on it’s bottom. It’s splashed, spilling out more water than Bucky had thought he’d put in there.

Tony was immediately drawn to the sound, and was sent into another set of wailing tears at the sight of his bottle rolling across the floor.

“It’s okay Tony, it’s okay!” Bucky said setting Tony down on the floor, away from the mess as he tried his best to clean it up. Tony slumped over, fat tears falling down his face as he rolled into the milk.

“Tony, no! You’re gonna make a mess!” Bucky said, trying to push Tony away. 

As he did, though, he stepped into the milk in his socks, making him jerk up and onto one foot, which only made it worse as that foot had a puddle of milk right next to it. Bucky tried to place his foot away from the mess, only to step onto the bottle and trip. His chin smacked the floor, making his teeth clash together in his mouth.

Bucky couldn’t help his tears, his face in pain, and clothes soaked, and his brother crying so hard, and everything! It all sucked! It all was stupid! He wanted his daddy, and he wanted to cuddle, and he wanted the world to stoping being so mean!

“Bucky? Tony?” A voice rang out over their cries.

“H-h-h-heeeeereee,” Bucky gasped through tears.

“Kitchen,” another voice said, footsteps following as they came into view.

Bruce and Natasha suddenly appeared. Bruce looked like he had just woken up, still in his pajamas. Natasha was still in her pant suit from the trial, somehow making the professional look work with her curves.

“Oh, babies,” Bruce said, stepping right into the mess Bucky had made. 

“I-I-I’m s-sorry,” Bucky cried, lifting up his arms for Bruce. He wanted his daddy, but Bruce was as good as he was going to get right now.

“It’s okay, Buck. You did a really good job!”

Bucky shook his head as he was carried out of the kitchen and into the dinning room. 

“We’ll get you all cleaned up, okay?” Bruce hummed lightly as he walked down the hall and towards Bucky’s room.

Bucky could still hear Tony crying from the kitchen with Natasha’s soft voice sushing him.

“You did a really good job, bud.” Bruce said as he sat Bucky on the floor. 

Bucky couldn’t help the hand that traveled to his mouth as he cried, watching Bruce dig through his dresser for clothes.

The man pulled out a soft pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, turning around to start undressing Bucky.

In no time at all, they were walking back through the hallway, Bucky holding tightly to the back of Bruce’s shirt as they popped their heads into Tony’s room.

Natasha had Tony in a new onesie, walking around the room with a soft bobbing motion as Tony’s Head was rested in her shoulder.

“It’s been a long day for our Little Tony, huh?” Bruce asked Bucky.

Bucky nodded his head, realized that his brother was okay. 

“Tony ‘kay?” Bucky asked, looking up at Natasha.

Natasha nodded. “He will be, crinkle butt. He’s just overtired.”

“I’m sure, when he wakes up from his nap, he would love to play with his big brother.”

“I can do dat!” Bucky beamed.

Bruce chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Yes you can. But you need a nap as well.”

Bucky let out a whine from the back of his throat, throwing his head back and pulling on Bruce’s shirt.

“Hey, none of that,” Bruce said, reaching to pick Bucky up again. “We’re all tired and need some sleep, okay?”

Bucky continued to moan, but let himself be carried back to his room and placed on his race-car bed. Maybe he was just a little tired, so he’d just lay down for a minute until Bruce left. 

Yeah, and then he’s go and get Tony and they could play with Legos! They’d build the best planes and cars and a whole town! Daddy had bought them lots to play with. And then they could knock it all down dressed in their dinosaur costumes like Godzilla!

And that was how he fell asleep, dreams filled with all the things they’d do when he woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments always appreciated, but never expected!!! Thank you for reading!!!


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